The Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography: Volume I: Periods and Places

ISBN-13: 9780754650331 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 464 str.

Stephanos Efthymiadis

Opis

Hagiography is the most abundantly represented genre of Byzantine literature and it offers crucial insight to the development of religious thought and practice, social and literary life, and the history of the empire. It emerged in the fourth century with the pioneering Life of St Antony and continued to evolve until the end of the empire in the fifteenth century, and beyond. The appeal and dynamics of this genre radiated beyond the confines of Byzantium, and it was practised also in many Oriental and Slavic languages within the orbit of the broader Byzantine world. This companion is the work of an international team of specialists and represents the first comprehensive survey ever produced in this field. It consists of two volumes and is addressed to both a broader public and the scholarly community of Byzantinists, Medievalists, historians of religion and theorists of the narrative. This first volume covers the authors and texts of the four distinctive periods during which Greek Byzantine hagiography developed, as well as the hagiography produced in Oriental and Slavic languages and in geographical milieux around the periphery of the empire, from Italy to Armenia. Volume II addresses questions of genres and the social and other contexts of Byzantine hagiography.

Recenzje

'The second volume of the Companion unquestionably provides a further significant and long-overdue contribution in this field which will be of particular and lasting value to specialist students of Byzantium but will also be of use to those interested in the broader study of (medieval) hagiography, religion, and literature.' Speculum ... a rich collection that offers a thorough introduction to the study of Byzantine hagiographical writing, both in its treatment of the texts themselves and by synthesizing current scholarly discourse on this immensely significant body of literature. Medieval Review ’Warm congratulations are owed to the editor, Professor Stephanos Efthymiadis, for presenting to modern scholarship a study important not only to scholars of Byzantine Studies, but also to scholars interested in theology, (monastic) literature, and social history. Given the major names of the contributors and the well-written content, there is no doubt that this companion will be at the summit of scholarship for some time to come, as it condenses all the previous scholarship. Every university or research library should have a copy.’ Journal of Theological Studies

Spis treści

Contents: Introduction, Stephanos Efthymiadis. Part I Genres, Varieties and Forms: Byzantine hagiography and its literary genres. Some critical observations, Martin Hinterberger; Greek passions of the martyrs in Byzantium, Marina Detoraki; Collections of miracles (fifth-fifteenth centuries), Stephanos Efthymiadis; Collections of edifying stories, André Binggeli; Greek Byzantine hagiography in verse, Stephanos Efthymiadis; Symeon Metaphrastes and the metaphrastic movement, Christian Høgel; Synaxaria and the synaxarion of Constantinople, Andrea Luzzi. Part II Hagiography as Literature: The Byzantine hagiographer and his text, Martin Hinterberger; Audience, language and patronage in Byzantine hagiography, Stephanos Efthymiadis - Nikos Kalogeras; Byzantine hagiography and hymnography: an interrelationship, Antonia Giannouli; Fiction and/or novelisation in Byzantine hagiography, Charis Messis; Holy actors and actresses fools and cross-dressers as the protagonists of saints’ Lives, Stavroula Constantinou; The literary portrait of Byzantine female saints, Nathalie Delierneux. Part III Hagiography and Society: Economy and society in Byzantine hagiography: realia and methodological questions, Michel Kaplan - Eleonora Kountoura-Galaki; The city in Byzantine hagiography, Helen G. Saradi; The hagiography of doubt and scepticism, Anthony Kaldellis. Indexes.

O autorze

Stephanos Efthymiadis is Professor at the Open University of Cyprus.