Неуютната класика
The Uncomfortable Classics

Summary/Abstract: This essay looks at the intellectual, emotional and social benefits and disadvantages of being a student and a reader of classical Greek and Roman literature. It asks for the problematic aspects of the concept of the "classic" ancient texts with regard to genuine communication with them. Different grounds for discomfort with the notion of classical literature are expressed: selective approach for the purpose of idealizing; ignoring "unclassical" aspects of classical heritage; problems of acquiring sufficient and firm knowledge and problems of translation and interpretation; problems of finding one's place in the imaginable continuum of culture and dialogue with the experience of the past. Several points of contradictions are also stressed: between the traditional values and the limited interest in classics nowadays; the charges of elitism and the perception of the field of classical literature as a common possession; the closeness and remotedness of antiquity; the desire for constructing one's identity in a more complex and flexible way and the difficulty of making learning and reading a vital force in this process.

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