Citoyenne la traductrice jacobine

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, I know.  I've been busy, but that's not really the reason. After all, I'm busier than ever and I'm still posting now. I just haven't really had much of relevance to say. It's sad, but what can you do?

I missed a couple of birthdays last month, so a very belated birthday to Charlotte Robespierre and Jeanbon Saint-André.

Really, I just wanted to point out this article, by Lynn Hunt, whom you may remember as one of the better American historians. Which isn't saying too much, but beggars can't be choosers. (Though if that limited choice were all that was available to me, I'd still pick Timothy Tackett over her any day).

I'm not sure whether I like the article or not. It's one of those pieces where I'm on a borderline between thinking it's useful for pointing out a few things that I've noticed to be true about writing, and getting annoyed with it for stating the obvious. In light of some of Hunt's work, I'm also going to have to be a bit snarky and add that if your instinct tells you that Freudian analysis is the right approach to your study of the French Revolution, maybe it's time to stop listening to your instinct. On the other hand, I'm quite possibly being too hard on her, both in terms of the article and in terms of her other writings, so I'll let you come to your own conclusions (which I would be happy to hear about!)

In other news, applying to study abroad is incredibly stressful when added to all my other work. Cumulative Latin exams are likewise stressful - there's a good 200 lines of Cicero's "In Verrem" I should be studying right now - so do wish me luck. (For the record, I like "In Verrem," which is Cicero's prosecution of the corrupt governor of Sicily, Verres, who, if Cicero is to be believed, stole everything he could get his hands on in the whole province, and also - in the part I'm not being tested on - had a Roman citizen crucified - which you really don't do. However, there is so much vocabulary that I don't know, that my brain may explode between now and tomorrow afternoon. And there's parsing. I hate parsing. D:)

...


CLAM.

...Which is to say, yesterday was Buonarotti's 248th birthday.

Joyeux anniversaire Buonarotti ! (Même s'il est un peu en retard.)

In other news, I registered for classes for next semester today, and I have to say I'm incredibly excited. I'm taking:

The Other in the Enlightenment (which is taught by the Robespierriste French professor I mentioned a while back).
Cicero in Speech and Letters
The City in Europe: 1100-1789
and, somewhat less exciting, Calculus 1b
And then my lessons, which I have no intention of stopping any time soon, even if it means I can only take 4 classes.

And now back to studying for my Indian History exam. Wish me luck!