November 27, 2023

Irene Vallejo, author of "Papyrus"

40 minutes

Part of what I try to do on this channel is to, in some small way, examine the history of literature. But for today’s guest, Spanish writer and Philologist Irene Vallejo, it’s the history of the book itself – from early beginnings as delicate cuneiform tablets, scrolls, and reeds on the banks of the Nile – that truly excites. Papyrus is a stunning introduction to (and explanation of!) philology, and is definitely an accessible read for any lover of books or history. In this episode, we dive into 6000 years of history – connecting ancient episodes with anachronistic references to the modern day – and zoom in on some of the most powerful stories contained within.

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Books mentioned in the episode:

The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco (1980) a tale of monks, murder mystery, and religious misgivings

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon (1776)

The Tale of Tales, Giambattista Basile (1634), which the brothers Grimm credit as the first national collection of fairy tales

One Thousand and One Nights also known as the Arabian Night, a compendium of Middle Eastern folktales from the Islamic Golden Age.

A book Irene would recommend to give beginners a better understanding of philology is Scholars and Scribes: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature, by Nigel Wilson (1968) – an explanation of how texts have survived from Greek and Roman times, and why it was considered such an important endeavour.

A book she’d recommend that I’ve never heard of is Pedro Páramo, by Juan Rulfo (1955), the story of a man who promises his dying mother he will find his father in a town called Comala, only to discover it’s a place where ghosts and spectres walk amongst us.

The best book she has read in the last 12 months is The Bitch, by Pilar Quintana (2020), which is an exploration of motherhood and love, following protagonist Damaris and her fisherman husband, set against the backdrop of the Colombian jungle.

The book she would take to a desert island is an encyclopaedia – possibly Britannica.

The book that changed her mind was The Odyssey by Homer, because when her father read it to her as a 4-year-old, that was the very moment she thinks she became a classicist.

Find Irene:

Buy Papyrus: ⁠ ⁠https://amzn.eu/d/aW3ABoR

Instagram: ⁠@irenevallejomoreu

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By Charles Pignal

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