99518 - Byzantine Culture and Literature

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of Byzantine culture, as well as a method for reading Greek writings from the 4th to the 15th centuries, with the help of modern lexicons and translations. At the end of the course, the student will know the role played by Byzantium in the history of European culture, together with the main aspects that shaped its literary production. He/she will know how to frame historically the main authors of medieval Greek literature and their works, as well as the literary genres and main themes of Byzantine literature. He/she will also be aware of the profound interactions that characterised the relationship between the Byzantine world and the Latin, Muslim (Arab and Ottoman) and Slavic worlds during the Middle Ages.

Course contents

The course will be divided into two sections: a general part and a seminar lecture part.

General part

Introduction to Byzantine Literature

This section offers an introduction to the most representative authors, works, and literary trends of Byzantine literature from the 4th to the 15th century. Particular attention will be given—considering the specific focus of the degree programme—to literary texts describing places, buildings, or works of art associated with the capital of the Empire, Constantinople. The selection of texts will include excerpts from Malalas, Procopius, Paul the Silentiary, George of Pisidia, Photios, Constantine of Rhodes, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Michael Psellos, Nicetas Choniates, and George Pachymeres. All source texts discussed in class will be made available on the course’s page on the University of Bologna’s Virtual Learning Environment (Virtuale).

Seminar part of the course

The Language of Power in Fourteenth-Century Byzantium: Ceremonies, Titles, and Dress

This section of the course will explore the language of power in fourteenth-century Byzantium through the analysis of court ceremonial, official titles, and distinctive forms of dress, as described in the De Officiis by Pseudo-Kodinos, composed around the middle of the century. Through the reading of this source (particularly Chapter II), comparison with earlier ceremonial texts, and examination of surviving iconographic and sigillographic evidence, students will investigate the symbolic and political mechanisms through which the late Byzantine court communicated authority, hierarchy, and identity.

Readings/Bibliography

General part

Required reading:

―A. Kambylis, Compendio della letteratura bizantina, in H.-G. Nesselrath, Introduzione alla filologia greca, trad. it., Salerno Editrice, Roma 2004, pp. 446-478.

― A. Rhoby, La letteratura bizantina. Un profilo storico, trad. it., Carocci, Roma 2022.

 

Seminar part of the course

Required reading:

― Pseudo-Kodinos and the Constantinopolitan Court: Offices and Cerimonies, eds. R. Macrides, J. A. Munitiz, D. Angelov, Ashgate, Birmingham 2013 (Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies, 15), pp. 26-69 (greek text and english translation).

― G. Ravegnani, Civiltà bizantina. Una storia millenaria, Carocci, Roma 2023, pp. 19-75 (alternatively G. Ravegnani, Imperatori di Bisanzio, Il Mulino, Bologna 2008, pp. 103-164).

― M. E. Pomero, Alcune osservazioni sul vestiario e sulle insegne del potere del δεσπότης nelle fonti scritte ed iconografiche, in Dialoghi con Bisanzio. Spazi di discussione, percorsi di ricerca, a cura di S. Cosentino, M. E. Pomero, G. Vespignani, CISAM, Spoleto 2019 (Quaderni di «Bizantinistica», XX), pp. 817-834.

― A. Carile, Gerarchie e caste, in Immagine e realtà nel mondo bizantino, Lo Scarabeo, Bologna 2000, pp. 193-230.

For non-attending students, in addition to the cited bibliography, the following reading is recommended:

― S. Impellizzeri, La letteratura bizantina: da Costantino a Fozio, Sansoni, Milano 1975 (or later editions).

Teaching methods

The first part of the course will consist of a series of introductory lectures on Byzantine literature, accompanied by focused explorations of selected authors. Their works will be read in Italian translation and discussed in class, with the support—where possible—of visual sources.

The second part will adopt a more seminar-like format: the lecturer will focus on the theme addressed in the monographic section of the course, using the reading of Chapter II of the De Officiis attributed to Pseudo-Kodinos as a starting point. The text will be subject to critical analysis and examined in dialogue with a selection of iconographic and sigillographic sources, with the aim of highlighting the forms of representation of power in Byzantine ceremonial practices through texts, images, and documents.

Given that the course is structured around the analysis of written sources, attendance is strongly recommended.

Assessment methods

An oral examination will assess:

- basic knowledge of the course program;

- the ability to understand the problems faced during the lectures;

- knowledge of the discipline in its historical development;

- the ability to contextualise the sources examined in class in their context, the quality of oral expression and the ability to critically discuss information received during the course.

The final evaluation will follow these criteria:

― Low grade: lack of basic knowledge and inability to critically discuss texts or concepts.

― Sufficient: Basic knowledge but limited ability to discuss texts or concepts critically.

― Good: Intermediate knowledge and ability to critically discuss texts or concepts.

― Excellent: in-depth knowledge at a high level, ability to discuss texts or concepts critically and excellent quality of oral presentation.

 

Teaching tools

- Texts and translations of the sources will be available on the course page on the University of Bologna’s Virtual Learning Environment (Virtuale)

- Power Point presentations

 

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives

Office hours

See the website of Margherita Elena Pomero

See the website of Giorgio Vespignani