Description
Book SynopsisA volume of essays by scholars of Byzantine art, history, and literature addressing the entanglements between the academic discipline of Byzantine studies and the practice and legacies of European colonialism.
Trade Review“With this slim yet rich and thoughtful volume, the field of Byzantine studies has finally joined the project of excavating the colonialist, imperialist, and white supremacist foundations of modern academia. This collection of essays does more than merely remedy a scholarly lacuna; it sounds an urgent call to action that is bound to reverberate in years to come, generating further self-reflection, debate, and dialogue.”
—Ivan Drpić,author of Epigram, Art, and Devotion in Later Byzantium
“This dynamic, multivocal volume has the potential to reshape not only the field of Byzantine studies but also larger movements within the humanities, with outstanding contributions by Aschenbrenner and Ransohoff, Achi, and Williams. Anderson and Ivanova’s work—particularly its willingness to engage with critical race and decolonial studies—will appeal to Byzantinists as well as those engaged in global medieval studies and adjacent fields, especially Ethiopian and Islamic studies.”
—Suzanne Conklin Akbari,author of Idols in the East: European Representations of Islam and the Orient, 1100-1450
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Preface: The Historical Conjuncture
Introduction: For a Critical Historiography of Byzantine Studies
Benjamin Anderson and Mirela Ivanova
Part 1: How Is Byzantine Studies (Re)Produced?
1. Hieronymus Wolf’s Silver Tongue: Early Byzantine Scholarship at the Intersection of Slavery, Colonialism, and the Crusades
Nathanael Aschenbrenner and Jake Ransohoff
2. Byzantine Archaeology: Teaching the Tenth and the Twentieth Centuries
Hugh G. Jeffery
3. Byzantium in Exile
Şebnem Dönbekci, Bahattin Bayram, and Zeynep Olgun
Part 2: How Is Byzantium (Re)Produced?
4. Methodological Imperialism
Nicholas S. M. Matheou
5. The Price of Admission
Anthony Kaldellis
6. Byzantine Studies: A Field Ripe for Disruption
Averil Cameron
7. Subaltern Byzantinism
Maria Mavroudi
Part 3: How Are Byzantine Texts (Re)Produced?
8. Byzantine and Western Narratives: A Dialogue of Empires
Arietta Papaconstantinou
9. The Ethnic Process
Alexandra Vukovich
10. Publication and Citation Practices: Enclosure, Extractivism, and Gatekeeping in Byzantine Studies
Matthew Kinloch
Part 4: How Is Byzantine Art (Re)Produced?
11. The South Kensington Museum, Byzantine Egyptian Textiles, and Art-Historical Imperialism
Arielle Winnik
12. From Ethnographic Illustration to Aphrodisian Magistrate: Changing Perceptions of an Early Byzantine Portrait
Stephanie R. Caruso
13. Expanding and Decentering Byzantium: The Acquisition of an Ethiopian Double-Sided Gospel Leaf
Andrea Myers Achi
14. Equity, Accessibility, and New Narratives for Byzantine Art in the Museum
Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
A Collective Bibliography Toward a Critical Historiography of Byzantine Studies
List of Contributors
Index
