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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 525: Iranian Frontiers: Women and Borders in the Late Antique Sasanian Empire

Tuesday 7 July 2020, 09.00-10.30

Organiser:Domiziana Rossi, Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà, Università di Bologna
Moderator/Chair:Eve MacDonald, School of History, Archaeology & Religion, Cardiff University
Paper 525-aShared Cultural Representations of the Wives of Khosrow Parviz within Abolqasem Ferdowsi's Shāhnāmeh
(Language: English)
Ewan Short, School of History, Archaeology & Religion, Cardiff University
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 525-bAll the Šhāhānšāhs' Wives: Marking the Ērānšahr through Intermarriages
(Language: English)
Domiziana Rossi, Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà, Università di Bologna
Index terms: Gender Studies, Islamic and Arabic Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 525-cStereotyping of Women of the East: Late Roman and Byzantine Perceptions of Ancient Persian Women
(Language: English)
Ana Garcia Espinosa, School of History Archaeology & Religion Cardiff University
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Abstract

The term 'border' can describe a geographical division, but can also describe divisions between genders. Historical narratives, often delivered from a masculine point of view, have delineated 'borders' between man and woman, and the 'limits' of masculine and feminine behaviour. This session aims to connect geographical borders with discourses on gender, focusing on women and the Sasanian Empire. The definition of the self and the other will imply not only men and women, but also west and east, as constructed conceptions within specific historical contexts.
Each speaker within this session will analyse different figures of women, and offer a distinct perspective on the dynamics of the gendered history of Late Antiquity.