Dr Alessandra Tafaro

Sessional Tutor
Email: Alessandra dot Tafaro at warwick dot ac dot uk

Humanities Building, University Road
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL

About

I completed my BA and MA in Classical Philology at ‘La Sapienza’, University of Rome, specialising in Latin literature and Roman epigraphy, before moving to the University of Warwick, where I pursued my PhD. My doctoral thesis, ‘Inscribing Flavian Rome: Epigraphic Strategies in Martial’s Epigrams’, investigated the multifaceted interaction between epigrammatic poetry and epigraphic writing habits, establishing a new critical interpretation of early imperial writing culture. I am currently Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick.

Research interests

Sitting at the juncture between literary criticism and studies in material culture, my research investigates how epigraphic texts, including graffiti and monumental inscriptions, are crucial to understanding complex issues and key themes of Latin literature, opening up new interpretative frameworks for engaging critically with literary texts. My main focus is Latin literature and material culture of the late Augustan and Flavian age. My forthcoming article, ‘Lassi Viatores: Poetic Consumption between Martial’s Epigrams and the Carmina Latina Epigraphica’, investigates themes of authorship and plagiarism and reveals interconnected conceptualisations of poetic monumentality and textual materiality that construct both epigraphic and literary discourses. I am currently working at turning my PhD thesis into a monograph and developing a new research project on the thematization of anonymity in Roman epigraphic poetry.

Teaching and supervision

• Latin Language and Literature

Qualifications

• BA/MA: La Sapienza, University of Rome

• PhD: University of Warwick