Yukai Li
Associate Professor
| Degrees: | A.B. (Princeton), M.St. (Oxford), Ph.D. (Yale) |
| Email: | YukaiLi@cunet.carleton.ca |
| Office: | 2A56 Paterson Hall |
Biography
I am a scholar of Greek literature and the Homeric epics in particular, although I also enjoy teaching a broader range of courses including language and history. In addition, I have strong interests in literary theory and contemporary continental philosophy. I am currently working on a book about Homeric poetics, the scholarship on oral traditional poetry, and the work of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze.
Research interests
My research interests lie between classical studies, literary theory, and continental philosophy. My first book, Future Fame in the Iliad: Epic Time and Homeric Studies, was published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2022. My most recent articles have been on Homer, Theocritus, and Deleuze.
Publications and presentations
Monographs
2022: Future Fame in the Iliad: Epic Time and Homeric Studies. Bloomsbury Academic
Articles
2025: “Helpless spectators in the Odyssey and the cinematic image of time.” Classical Antiquity 44.1: 66–93.
2023: “Pastoral between words and things: Theocritus, ekphrasis, and ontology.” Classical Philology 118.1: 27-51.
2019: “The distraction of pastoral and Theocritus’ painted world.” Classical Philology 114. 3: 383-405.
2018: “The silence of the muse.” Arethusa 51. 2: 91-115.
Book reviews
2021: Review of Loney, Alexander A. 2019. The Ethics of Revenge and the Meaning of the Odyssey. Oxford. Classical Journal.
2020: Review of Ready, Jonathan L. 2019. Orality, Textuality, and the Homeric Epics. Oxford. Phoenix.
2019: Review of Grethlein, J. 2017. Die Odyssee: Homer und die Kunst des Erzählens. München. Journal of Hellenic Studies 139: 233-234.
Selected recent presentations
Upcoming: “Ontological requirements for the Homeric oral tradition” (Classical Association of Canada)
2026: “Pivotal counterfactuals in the Iliad and Homeric science fiction” (Society for Classical Studies)
2023: “Forking time and spectatorship in the Odyssey” (Society for Classical Studies)
2023: “Beyond the action-image: Odysseus as spectator in Deleuze’s Cinema” (McGill University)
2021: “Iliadic fame and the splitting of time” (Classical Association of the Middle West and South)