Monday, November 24, 2014

Call for papers: late antique hagiography as literature

Colloquium at the University of Edinburgh, 20th-21st May 2015


Texts about Œholy¹ women and men grew to be a defining feature of the
culture of Late Antiquity. There is currently an increasing interest
among
scholars from different disciplines (history, theology, languages, and
literature) in these hagiographical writings. But more can be done to
find
ways to systematise our understanding of the literary affiliations,
strategies and goals of these extraordinarily varied texts, which range
from
the prosaic and anonymous narrations of the martyr passions to the
Classicising poems of Paulinus of Nola and the rhetorically accomplished
sermons of John Chrysostom.


This colloquium is designed to bring together students and scholars
working
on a range of aspects of literary hagiography, to share insights, and to
consider approaches for the future. We hope to situate late antique
biographical production in relation to Classical literary sensibilities,
as
well as considering non-classical influences, and thus to identify areas
of
continuity and gradual development as well as areas of abrupt change in
the
form and function of such literature. While our emphasis is deliberately
literary, historical and theological questions which feed into the
significance of these works should not be ignored.


We understand Œhagiography¹ in the non-technical sense of Œwritings
about
(the lives of) saints¹. The concept of Œsaints¹, likewise, is here taken
in
a broad way to mean remarkable and exemplary Christian figures (whether
real
or fictional); the field is not restricted to those who at some point
were
officially canonised by the Church. This colloquium is seeking to
explore
issues like the following:


* The definition of sainthood, e.g. through comparisons with texts about
non-Christian saint-like figures (the Œpagan martyrs¹, Apollonius of
Tyana).


* The portrayal of a saint in different texts; how are saints portrayed
in
their own writings compared to those of other authors about them?


* Characterisation, e.g. individuality and stereotyping: to what extent
can
a reader empathise or identify with a saint?


* Life imitating hagiography and resulting problems.


* What can hagiography tell us about non-elite Œpopular¹ literary
culture?


* How have different genres given shape to hagiographical texts (from
Damasus¹ epigrams to the epic poems of Fortunatus and Paulinus of
Périgeux),
as well as texts resisting generic categorisation? E.g. is the so called
Life of Malchus a vita or a diegesis?


* Intertextuality as an aesthetic and ideological strategy.


* The emergence of stable hagiographical conventions, whose influence
grew
so powerful that it is often difficult to distinguish one saint from
another. 


* What, if anything, can hagiography learn from panegyric?


* Literary approaches to un-saintly behaviour (trickery, committing
suicide,
etc.) of saints. 


* To what extent does a text¹s rhetorical purpose undermine the author¹s
credibility as an honest record-keeper?


* Assessing the historicity of hagiographical texts.


* Transmission and textual problems of hagiographical texts.


* Reception and changes in the perception of authority (e.g. saints who
wrote about saints, such as John Chrysostom and Augustine).


Proposals for 25-minute papers, in the form of abstracts between 200 and
400
words in length, should be submitted to Thomas Tsartsidis
15th
January 2015. 


Postgraduate students are particularly encouraged to contribute to this
event. 


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