Sacralizing Armenian Landscape: Nature, Culture and War in the
Writings of Step’annos Orbelian

k 2023

Sacralizing Armenian Landscape: Nature, Culture and War in the Writings of Step’annos Orbelian

FOLETTI, Ivan and Michaela KOVÁŘOVÁ

Basic information

Original name

Sacralizing Armenian Landscape: Nature, Culture and War in the Writings of Step’annos Orbelian

Authors

FOLETTI, Ivan and Michaela KOVÁŘOVÁ

Edition

Shaped by Greed. Reflections and Impacts of Environmental Exploitationin European Visual Cultures 1200—1900, 2023

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

60401 Arts, Art history

Country of publisher

Czech Republic

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords in English

Step’annos Orbelian; Landscape; Expoiting Nature; War; Armenian History; Church Looting

Abstract

V originále

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the way the transformation of natural sites into cultural spaces was perceived in medieval Armenia based on the analysis of the History of the State of Sisakan by the bishop and historian Step’annos Orbelian (ca. 1250–1304). Orbelian’s text begins with the classic topos of a conversion of a natural environment going “from desert to paradise” and describes how the monastic colonization transformed the natural, wild landscape into a prosperous place of culture and fertility. It is, however, clear from Orbelian’s words that this transformation also had an explicit impact on the concrete lives of the surrounding settlements: thanks to the monastic presence, these were protected from floods and bad weather. Thus, a religious and cultural foundation had a decisive impact a geosocial reality. After presenting Orbelian’s History, the present paper will attempt to reconstruct its cultural context. Secondly, an effort will be made to analyze preserved sites where the dialogue between nature and culture described by Orbelian can still be observed. Finally, we will propose an overview reading focused on the central theme of the conference: how specifically the natural and “wild” environment was shaped by human activities in the thirteenth-century Armenian context.

Links

GF21-01706L, research and development project

Name: Kulturní dialogy v Jihokavkazském regionu ve středověku: historiografická a historicko-umělecká perspektiva (Acronym: CIMS)

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, Partner Agency (Switzerland)

Citovat

FOLETTI, Ivan and Michaela KOVÁŘOVÁ. Sacralizing Armenian Landscape: Nature, Culture and War in the Writings of Step’annos Orbelian. In Shaped by Greed. Reflections and Impacts of Environmental Exploitationin European Visual Cultures 1200—1900. 2023.

@proceedings{2290017,
   author = {Foletti, Ivan and Kovářová, Michaela},
   booktitle = {Shaped by Greed. Reflections and Impacts of Environmental Exploitationin European Visual Cultures 1200—1900},
   keywords = {Step’annos Orbelian; Landscape; Expoiting Nature; War; Armenian History; Church Looting},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Sacralizing Armenian Landscape: Nature, Culture and War in the Writings of Step’annos Orbelian},
   url = {https://dejinyumeni.phil.muni.cz/aktuality/3rd-biennial-conference-his-artibus-shaped-by-greed},
   year = {2023}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 2290017
AU  - Foletti, Ivan - Kovářová, Michaela
PY  - 2023
TI  - Sacralizing Armenian Landscape: Nature, Culture and War in the Writings of Step’annos Orbelian
KW  - Step’annos Orbelian
KW  - Landscape
KW  - Expoiting Nature
KW  - War
KW  - Armenian History
KW  - Church Looting
UR  - https://dejinyumeni.phil.muni.cz/aktuality/3rd-biennial-conference-his-artibus-shaped-by-greed
N2  - The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the way the transformation of natural sites into cultural spaces was perceived in medieval Armenia based on the analysis of the History of the State of Sisakan by the bishop and historian Step’annos Orbelian (ca. 1250–1304). Orbelian’s text begins with the classic topos of a conversion of a natural environment going “from desert to paradise” and describes how the monastic colonization transformed the natural, wild landscape into a prosperous place of culture and fertility. It is, however, clear from Orbelian’s words that this transformation also had an explicit impact on the concrete lives of the surrounding settlements: thanks to the monastic presence, these were protected from floods and bad weather. Thus, a religious and cultural foundation had a decisive impact a geosocial reality. After presenting Orbelian’s History, the present paper will attempt to reconstruct its cultural context. Secondly, an effort will be made to analyze preserved sites where the dialogue between nature and culture described by Orbelian can still be observed. Finally, we will propose an overview reading focused on the central theme of the conference: how specifically the natural and “wild” environment was shaped by human activities in the thirteenth-century Armenian context.
ER  -

FOLETTI, Ivan and Michaela KOVÁŘOVÁ. Sacralizing Armenian Landscape: Nature, Culture and War in the Writings of Step’annos Orbelian. In \textit{Shaped by Greed. Reflections and Impacts of Environmental Exploitationin European Visual Cultures 1200—1900}. 2023.

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