This interdisciplinary conference-debate, entitled “Classics in Debate: Greco-Roman and Asian Antiquities,” is co-sponsored by the HiSoMA and IAO research units. It is co-organized by François Guillemot (Institute of East Asian Studies) and Anne-Sophie Noel (History and Sources of the Ancient Worlds), on the occasion of Kelly Nguyen's (Assistant Professor in Classics and Social Justice, University of California, Los Angeles) visit as a guest professor at ENS de Lyon.

The conference-debate aims to examine the notions of “classic” and ‘canon’ from a comparative perspective, based on what has traditionally been identified as the “classical canon” in ancient Greece and Rome and in East Asia.

What ancient traditions can be drawn upon to define the concept of “classical” in China, Vietnam, Japan, and around the Mediterranean? What are “the classics” in these various cultures, and how are they named across history? How are so-called “classical” traditions formed in relation to transmission, teaching, and political choices made at various historical periods? What cultural and symbolic connotations are associated with “classical”? How have they been exploited for political purposes? Would a dynamic and comparative approach make it possible to decolonize the very idea of “classical”?

This interdisciplinary debate will bring together researchers and lecturers from various backgrounds around Kelly Nguyen: Alexis Chen, PhD student in Chinese Studies (IAO/ENS de Lyon), Michael Lucken, Professor of Japanese Studies (INALCO/IFRAE), and Zhang Rui, PhD and Chinese lecturer (Université Lumière Lyon 2/IAO).