Liminal and Heterotopic Functions of The Desert in Byzantine Literature

KULHÁNKOVÁ, Markéta. Liminal and Heterotopic Functions of The Desert in Byzantine Literature. In Liminal Spaces in Byzantium and Beyond. Perceptions, performativity, placemaking. Swedish Institute in Athens, April 2023. 2023.

Základní údaje

• Originální název: Liminal and Heterotopic Functions of The Desert in Byzantine Literature
• Autoři: KULHÁNKOVÁ, Markéta.
• Vydání: Liminal Spaces in Byzantium and Beyond. Perceptions, performativity, placemaking. Swedish Institute in Athens, April 2023, 2023.

Další údaje

• Originální jazyk: angličtina
• Typ výsledku: Prezentace na konferencích
• Obor: 60206 Specific literatures
• Stát vydavatele: Řecko
• Utajení: není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Byzantine Literature; Hagiography; Heroic Poetry; Liminality; Heterotopia
• Příznaky: Recenzováno

Anotace

The contribution examined the character and the functions of the desert in two Byzantine genres that narrate about liminal heroes and liminal experiences: the hagiographic edifying story and the heroic poetry. I distinguish two related but different functions of the desert in these genres: first, it is a point of transition—between here and there, the secular and the divine, the Christian and the non-Christian, the moral and the immoral—and the three-fold Gennepian structure of a liminal experience can be clearly discerned. Second, it is a setting where liminality becomes one (but not the only one) specific feature of space which perhaps could be appropriately labelled with the Foucaultian term ‘heterotopia’: in this case, the space and the community of desert fathers living there create a set of special social and cultural conditions that influence the acting characters and the occurring events, without necessarily providing the characters (and the audiences) with the complete transitional experience. I presented these functions of the desert on the example edifying stories by Anastasios Sinaites (mid-7th century), and the poem of Digenis Akritis (I work with the G version, which was written down in the late 13th century but its origin most probably goes back to the 12th century). At the same time, I explored the impact of the genre on the treatment of the specific narrative space.