SPOKEN LATIN IN THE JCL · Torch: U.S. · Fall 2020
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“If we only focus on Latin’s utility and only with those for whom Latin is readily available, we will miss countless opportunities to share all the things that make Latin fun and enjoyable with a larger audience. Decreasing limitations and structural roadblocks to learning about the ancient world is not only at the heart of the Iris Project, but I feel is also at the heart of the JCL’s mission, ‘classics for everyone.’”
Iris is far from the only accessibility-minded classics organization; The Sportula, the collective that levied the allegations against Paideia in October, offers microgrants to low-income classicists who might be underserved by traditional scholarship initiatives. The classics and social justice group’s mission is to “bring classics out of the academy” and into a social justice sphere, and there are several classical caucuses that provide support and a platform for underrepresented classicists. There’s even a progressive classics journal: Eidolon is available online for free and offers a feminist perspective on classical study.
The reputation of the classics as a field dominated by elitism and gatekeeping far precedes us, the current students and scholars. Thus, confronting the problem often seems like a Herculean task. After all, how are we going to fight an entire history of exclusion and pretension when we have homework to do?
But there are ways we can help. Think seriously about the classical organizations you’re involved in. Supporting the aforementioned groups and similar organizations through service and donations goes a long way towards forging an atmosphere of inclusion and equity. In your everyday Latin life, examine the ways in which you’re taught. Does your textbook’s practice translations include sentences like Femina aquam minus facile quam servus portare poterat (The woman was able to carry water less easily than the slave)? Loving Latin doesn’t mean accepting the prejudices shared by the Romans and our textbook authors. Finally, know that the study of classics is for you, if you want it. You are welcome, and you belong.
Although the Paideia Institute is a promoter of spoken Latin, that organization is not the entirety of the movement! Spoken Latin is an increasingly popular idea involving, well, speaking Latin as a living language.
I’ve done spoken Latin for several years, and it has greatly benefited my study of the language. When using a language to express your own thoughts and ideas instead of simply understanding someone else’s ideas, you think of the language in a different way. Personally, my comprehension of Latin, facility with Latin vocabulary, and familiarity with Latin grammar have been improved by my engagement with Latin as a living language.
This spring, in an effort to bring spoken Latin closer to the JCL, I ran two “Latina Loquenda Per Rete” virtual spoken Latin sessions. In the first session, I talked to Alicia Lopez, the founder of the Virginia Latina Loquenda program, about the benefits of spoken Latin, and to Mrs. Susan Schearer about her long history in the JCL. During the second session, I talked about the intersection of Classics and STEM with Gwen Jacobson, a VSCLer studying classics and math at the University of Chicago. Both of these sessions were conducted entirely in Latin, providing a fun challenge for both the speakers and the audience!
I would personally like to encourage all of you to try out speaking Latin, whether just to yourself or with some friends from school or JCL! Using Latin as the Romans did can help us better understand ancient culture and literature, and it helps us appreciate ancient authors.
Spoken Latin in the JCL
Jocelyn Robertson,
2019-2020 NJCL President