Byzantine Edifying Stories between Orality and Literacy

k 2018

Byzantine Edifying Stories between Orality and Literacy

KULHÁNKOVÁ, Markéta

Basic information

Original name

Byzantine Edifying Stories between Orality and Literacy

Authors

KULHÁNKOVÁ, Markéta (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

From Homer to Hatzi-Yavrouda – Aspects of oral narration in the Greek tradition, Athens 29th-30th September 2018, 2018

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

60202 Specific languages

Country of publisher

Greece

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/18:00104114

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords in English

Byzantine Literature; hagiography; orality; textuality; historical present tense

Abstract

V originále

The hagiographic edifying story is a particularly interesting case for scholars working in the field of Byzantine literary orality since this genre is based on orally transmitted storytelling (primary orality), but the texts were also, at least in part, intended for oral performance (secondary orality). Moreover, most collections feature intensive efforts to suppress literacy and stress orality in order to claim the truth and authenticity of the accounts. The preserved collections of edifying stories were written by both eponymous and anonymous authors of various social and educational backgrounds. Thus, it is possible to explore a selection of (potentially) oral features in many texts of one single genre, sometimes even rendering the same or very similar story, and compare the outcomes of the analysis with other texts by the same authors which do not have an oral background. By exploring this genre, we can also gain the opportunity to study the fate and functions of oral features within a longer period (fourth to the 10th cent.), during which the genre gradually distanced itself from its oral origins. The first part of my talk was dedicated to the special nature of the genre outlined above, while the second part will focus on one particular example of a (potentially) oral feature, namely the present-tense narration. Starting from a general categorisation of the present tense used in narratives (historical, narrative, visualizing, grammaticalized present tense), I proceeded to analyse the use of this device in selected collections (The Lausiac History by Palladios, Daniel-Scetiotes-Dossier, the collections of Anastasios Sinaites) and attempt to answer the following questions: Which narrative functions does the present tense perform? Is there any type of present tense prevailing in any of the studied collections? If so, which are the effects? Can the use of (some types of) the present-tense narration be treated as a sign of (feigned) orality? The general aim of the paper is to contribute to our understanding of the relation between orality and textuality in Byzantine literature, the so-called feigned orality and the function of the present-tense narration in Medieval Greek.

Links

MUNI/A/0916/2017, interní kód MU

Name: Zkoumání starověkých jazyků, jejich písemnictví a příslušných kultur, včetně jejich recepce – 2018 (Acronym: Staré jazyky, písemnictví, kultury)

Investor: Masaryk University, Category A

Citovat

KULHÁNKOVÁ, Markéta. Byzantine Edifying Stories between Orality and Literacy. In From Homer to Hatzi-Yavrouda – Aspects of oral narration in the Greek tradition, Athens 29th-30th September 2018. 2018.

@proceedings{1452342,
   author = {Kulhánková, Markéta},
   booktitle = {From Homer to Hatzi-Yavrouda – Aspects of oral narration in the Greek tradition, Athens 29th-30th September 2018},
   keywords = {Byzantine Literature; hagiography; orality; textuality; historical present tense},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Byzantine Edifying Stories between Orality and Literacy},
   url = {https://www.diathens.gr/files/b/1/851/Programme_speakers.pdf},
   year = {2018}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1452342
AU  - Kulhánková, Markéta
PY  - 2018
TI  - Byzantine Edifying Stories between Orality and Literacy
KW  - Byzantine Literature
KW  - hagiography
KW  - orality
KW  - textuality
KW  - historical present tense
UR  - https://www.diathens.gr/files/b/1/851/Programme_speakers.pdf
N2  - The hagiographic edifying story is a particularly interesting case for scholars working in the field of Byzantine literary orality since this genre is based on orally transmitted storytelling (primary orality), but the texts were also, at least in part, intended for oral performance (secondary orality). Moreover, most collections feature intensive efforts to suppress literacy and stress orality in order to claim the truth and authenticity of the accounts. The preserved collections of edifying stories were written by both eponymous and anonymous authors of various social and educational backgrounds. Thus, it is possible to explore a selection of (potentially) oral features in many texts of one single genre, sometimes even rendering the same or very similar story, and compare the outcomes of the analysis with other texts by the same authors which do not have an oral background. By exploring this genre, we can also gain the opportunity to study the fate and functions of oral features within a longer period (fourth to the 10th cent.), during which the genre gradually distanced itself from its oral origins. The first part of my talk was dedicated to the special nature of the genre outlined above, while the second part will focus on one particular example of a (potentially) oral feature, namely the present-tense narration. Starting from a general categorisation of the present tense used in narratives (historical, narrative, visualizing, grammaticalized present tense), I proceeded to analyse the use of this device in selected collections (The Lausiac History by Palladios, Daniel-Scetiotes-Dossier, the collections of Anastasios Sinaites) and attempt to answer the following questions: Which narrative functions does the present tense perform? Is there any type of present tense prevailing in any of the studied collections? If so, which are the effects? Can the use of (some types of) the present-tense narration be treated as a sign of (feigned) orality? The general aim of the paper is to contribute to our understanding of the relation between orality and textuality in Byzantine literature, the so-called feigned orality and the function of the present-tense narration in Medieval Greek.
ER  -

KULHÁNKOVÁ, Markéta. Byzantine Edifying Stories between Orality and Literacy. In \textit{From Homer to Hatzi-Yavrouda – Aspects of oral narration in the Greek tradition, Athens 29th-30th September 2018}. 2018.

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