Commented reading of Francesco Petrarca's letter about his probably fictional ascent of Mont Ventoux. A seminar consisting of a thorough and commented reading of Francesco Petrarca's letter. The seminar will analyze in detail Francesco Petrarca's letter about the ascent of Mont Ventoux, which is one of the fundamental works of early Renaissance thought and philosophy. The letter will first be placed in the context of medieval and Renaissance thought, then Petrarch's works, and finally, special attention will be paid to individual themes that appear in the letter and which will be revealed, commented on, and interpreted using relevant secondary literature during the reading (mountaineering, imitation of ancient literature, Stoic sources, Augustinianism, the metaphor of climbing a mountain, the aestheticization of nature, the birth of subject-object thinking, introspection, the antithetical model of narration, philosophy as the art of living). The source text will be the Czech translation of the letter by Jan Janoušek (Prague, Vyšehrad 2014). In some cases, the translation will be compared with two other Czech translations. The seminar will take place in blocks on April 24 and 25, 2026, in the form of a retreat, which requires participants to stay at the venue for at least one night (from April 24 to 25, arrival is possible on April 23, departure on April 26). The seminar will take place in the Jeseníky Mountains, at the parish house in Sobotín (https://www.farasobotin.cz/). Meals are not included. I chose the form of a residential seminar in order to encourage informal discussions, for which this will create space. I will contact those registered for the seminar with detailed instructions regarding their stay.
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