Xiyuan Meng

Xiyuan is a second year DPhil candidate from the School of Classics. Before moving to Scotland, she received her BA degree from Peking University (2015-2020) where she read Arabic and subsequently Classics. She received her MLitt degree from the University of St Andrews (with distinction, 2020-2021) and later spent a year working at the Bodleian KB Chen China Centre Library, University of Oxford.

Xiyuan's DPhil thesis investigates the interdiscursivity between the literary representation of golden-age(s) and the narrative of moral decline in Latin poetry, with a temporal range from the late Republic to the early empire. This thesis intends to cast new light onto how Latin authors present critical reflections on their own times through different mythic, literary, and philosophical traditions. A key contribution this thesis ambitions to make is to scrutinise how ancient authors' criticism upon their contemporary political/moral value system backs up the cultural nostalgia which can be widely attested across different works. Alongside her main interest in Latin poetry, Xiyuan is also interested in translation and classical reception in modern and contemporary China.

Within the School of Classics

• GK2004/5004 The Landscape of Greek Poetry (B), set-text language support (23-24 S2)
• CL1005 Images of Augustan Rome (23-24 S2)

Centre for Educational Enhancement and Development (CEED)

• ASP Workshop: Introduction to Essay Writing (23-24 S1)
• ASP Workshop: How to Ace in Exams (23-24 S2)