IMC 2011: Sessions
Session 808: Texts and Identities, II: The Past, the Present, and the Future - The Construction of Identities
Tuesday 12 July 2011, 16.30-18.00
Sponsor: | Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien / Utrecht Centre for Medieval Studies, Universiteit Utrecht / Faculty of History, University of Cambridge |
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Organisers: | E. T. Dailey, School of History, University of Leeds Gerda Heydemann, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien / Institut für Geschichte, Universität Wien |
Moderator/Chair: | Helmut Reimitz, Department of History, Princeton University |
Paper 808-a | Ethnic Identity in the Poetry of Venantius Fortunatus (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Latin, Political Thought |
Paper 808-b | Monks Writing (Their) History: Techniques of Constructing a Suitable Past (Language: English) Index terms: Hagiography, Monasticism |
Paper 808-c | Apocalyptic Visions and the Shaping of Ethnic Identity in the Early Middle Ages (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Historiography - Medieval, Political Thought |
Abstract | This session looks at the intersection of ethnic and religious identities, and at their textual construction through poetic, monastic and exegetical writings in the early medieval Frankish world. While the first paper (Erica Buchberger) discusses strategies of ethnic identification in the poetry of Venantius Fortunatus, Albrecht Diem undertakes an analysis of the techniques developed in monastic discourse to shape 'constructed pasts'. These 'constructed pasts' were not only of vital importance for the formation of monastic institutions; they also provide a fruitful point of comparison between the formation of ethnic and other social identities. The third paper (Veronika Wieser) addresses the contribution of Christian traditions to ethnic discourse from yet another starting point, by focussing on early medieval apocalyptic narratives. |