Description
Book SynopsisThis book reconceives the rewriting of Byzantine hagiography between the eighth and fourteenth centuries as a skilful initiative in communication and creative freedom, and as a form of authorship. Three men – Makarios (late C13th-C14th), a monk; Constantine Akropolites (d.c.1324), a statesman; and an Anonymous educated wordsmith (c. C9th) – each opted to rewrite the martyrdom of a female virgin saint who suffered and died centuries earlier. Their adaptations, respectively, were of St. Ia of Persia (modern-day Iran), St. Horaiozele of Constantinople, and St. Tatiana of Rome. Ia is described as a victim of the persecutions of the Persian Shahanshah, Shapur II (309–79 C.E), Horaiozele was allegedly a disciple of St Andrew and killed anachronistically under the emperor Decius (249–51 C.E), and Tatiana, we are told, was a deaconess, martyred during the reign of emperor Alexander Severus (222–35 C.E). Makarios, Akropolites, and the Anonymous knowingly tailored their compositions to influence an audience and to foster their individual interests. The implications arising from these studies are far-reaching: this monograph considers the agency of the hagiographer, the instrumental use of the authorial persona and its impact on the audience, and hagiography as a layered discourse. The book also provides the first translations and commentaries of the martyrdoms of these virgin martyrs.
Trade Review'The three texts are translated into clear English, which is pleasant to read. The notes shed light on several aspects of the stories, notably their lexical richness. Alwis brings three female figures from Byzantine hagiography out of oblivion while creating an original discussion about re-writing not only as a linguistic and rhetorical practice but also a social one. This is a fine study about hagiography as a literary object, drawing on the ancestral strength of story/ narrative as a means of communication.’
Anna Lampadaridi, Revue des Études Byzantines
Translated from French.
'As first-time translations to English, these texts, and the monograph that introduces them, are valuable additions to the extant research, and provide new insight and perspectives for anyone interested in mediaeval history and hagiography.'
Sissel Undheim,
Plekos‘[Narrating Martyrdom] is a welcome addition to the growing number of Greek hagiographical texts available in English… and offers valuable insights into the three authors’ techniques of rewriting their model texts.’ Alice-Mary Talbot, Church History
Table of Contents1. A Note on the Editions and Translations
2. Introduction
Narratology, Focalisation, and Communication
The Rewritten Text: the Simulacrum
Manuscript Context and Audience
Rewriting as Social Action, and Hagiography as Double-Discourse
Rewriting Perceptions from the Past
3. The Authors: Makarios, Constantine Akropolites, and the Anonymous
4. The Virgin Martyrs
5. Adaptation
Makarios and Saint Ia
Akropolites and Saint Horaiozele
The Anonymous and Saint Tatiana
What is Metaphrasis?
6. Conclusions
7. Translations and Commentaries for each martyrdom
