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

(T.Tsartsidis@sms.ed.ac.uk) or Christa Gray (christa.gray@gla.ac.uk) by

15th

January 2015. 

Postgraduate students are particularly encouraged to contribute to this

event.