Racing Turtles

Literally the only thing I want is that when people read something about Egypt that was sourced only to Herodotus they think “oh huh, maybe I shouldn’t take this at face value”. That’s it. I don’t care if y’all want to face him in the sewers for a physical altercation the same way I do or not.

Please remember that just because Herodotus was “also ancient” it doesn’t mean he’s by default correct about “all the other ancient stuff”. Herodotus was born in 485 B.C., during which time period Egypt was being ruled by the Persians. He is almost equally far removed from the building of the Great Pyramid as he is removed from our present day, give or take a few centuries.

Even his accurate statements about Egypt should be taken as true for the Egypt of his time, and not used to make broad generalisations about a country/people whose history spanned millennia. 

#to be honest this should be the attitude approaching any writer that belongs to an empire#who is writing about any people beside his own#the romans had some interesting ideas about the celts#and the british empire was equally problematic#because victorians

And honestly, “Was Herodotus important to the development of history as a field?” and “Were Herodotus’ statements coloured by his own cultural perception and how do we handle this when using him as a historical source on any other culture but the Greek?” are two different discussions that are sometimes conflated to both mean the same thing: that we ‘shouldn’t be harsh because Herodotus was trying the best he could’. It’s not a matter or being harsh; it’s a matter of being realistic. 

Hello Tumblr! Would you like to come to Sweden in August and listen to some of the brightest lights in speculative fiction and classical reception studies talk about empires and Byzantium and your favorite SFF series? I think you might.

This conference is my baby; it is one of the culminations of the two-year postdoc I’ve had here in Sweden, and I’m very excited about it. I’ve collected a pretty impressive group of writer and artist guests (these are just the confirmed names! there will likely be more!):

Would you like to hear these people talk about empire, medieval history, and SFF? I sure would. That’s why I asked them to do it, in public.

How Can I Come See This?

The event (all three days) is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Uppsala is a university town a little north of Stockholm, easily accessible by train. You (a fan) can just show up! Have a good time! Listen to amazing people talk about amazing ideas and difficult problems!

There will be a formal schedule of programming available in early April, and you bet that will be advertised on our website: www.historiesofthefuture.net as well as here on Tumblr.

How Can I Participate?

Are you an academic? An independent scholar? An amateur with important things to say about empire, Byzantium, medieval history, and SFF? You can give a paper.

Our submissions deadline for academic presentations (approximately 20 minutes of you telling us about your research!) is MARCH 31, 2017. YOU’VE GOT A WHOLE TWO WEEKS AND A BIT. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Send your abstract (a short description of the title of your paper and what you want to say, about 250 words) to me at [email protected] by the end of the month, and I will get back to you with an acceptance or rejection by the end of the first week in April.

Stuff I Might Want To Know

This conference takes place the week before WorldCon 75 in Helsinki, Finland! You might want to come to Helsinki – you might already be coming to Helsinki! – stop by Sweden on your way. We’d love to have you.

I Have Questions

You can ask me! Either by email: [email protected] – or through my Tumblr inbox.

Please reblog and share widely!