One of the newest branches of classical reception focuses on the cultural productions of Asian Americans. Chang-rae Lee’s novel The Surrendered and Ocean Vuong’s collection of poems Night Sky with Exit Wounds use the mythology surrounding the Trojan War to engage with the legacies of the Korean War and the Vietnam War respectively. Lee’s novel interacts with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey through its construction of three characters who echo figures associated with those epic poems. Night Sky with Exit Wounds reimagines this mythology in the context of Vuong’s life.
Christopher Waldo is an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Washington, Seattle. His work centers on classical reception in Asian American literature, Greek lyric poetry, and tragedy.
If you'd like to attend via Zoom, you'll need to register in advance: https://washington.zoom.us/