In recent years, scholarly research increasingly embraced a narratological approach to literature, emphasizing not only the intricate complexity of literary texts but also the benefits of analysing narrative structures and components to better understand a text’s intended purposes and reader reception. Recognizing the value of this approach, it is desirable to extend this perspective to Byzantine hagiography – specifically, by examining narrative composition practices and their impact on the dynamic interaction between their producers and audiences. The proposed group session integrates research in narratology and literary theory into the study of Byzantine hagiography. Drawing on Irene J. F. de Jong’s model for Classical literature, each of the six speakers will focus on a key narratological category (e.g., narrators, characters, focalization, space, time, story vs. fabula). Following a brief theoretical introduction, these categories will be applied to individual case studies. The session will explore topics such as narrators and authentication strategies, focalization across different narratorial levels, the narrative agency of animals, character construction in miracle narratives, the integration and function of space within the narrative, and temporality as a crucial storytelling element. Our aim is to offer a practical introduction to the application of narratology and modern literary theories in the study of Byzantine hagiography. While contributing to the scholarship on specific hagiographical works, this group session will also highlight a promising yet underexplored avenue of research in Byzantine literary studies.
This paper examines the Life of Eustratios of Agauros (BHG 645) paying close attention to the different narrators (external or internal) and narrative levels present in the text. Stories and direct speeches in the mouth of secondary characters (and therefore secondary narrators) will also be analysed. The main narrator has an unsettling presence, but his…
The Synaxarium of Constantinople offers a vast and carefully organized corpus of hagiographical narratives that shaped both liturgical practice and cultural identity. Among its many features, the presence of animals – often relegated to the margins of scholarly attention – deserves closer scrutiny, not only as part of the stories’ thematic repertoire but also as…
Temporal dynamics is one of the most crucial aspects of narratology. It has been widely studied in Homer, where severe restrictions apply: in particular, in the Iliad and the Odyssey, a flashback to a moment later than the beginning of the main story is avoided. Temporal manipulation became much freer in historiography and drama, and…
Among the various narratological categories, this paper focuses on “space”. Three extant hagiographies are dedicated to St. Ioannikios the Great, a wandering ascetic from Bithynia active during the period of the Second Iconoclasm: two pre-metaphrastic ninth-century Lives – one authored by Peter the Monk (BHG 936) and the other by Sabas the Monk (BHG 935)…