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IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 1108: Breast Rules: Motherhood and Breastfeeding in the Middle Ages, II - Motherhood, Breastfeeding, and Religion

Wednesday 7 July 2021, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:University of Cyprus
Organisers:Stavroula Constantinou, Department of Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies, University of Cyprus, Nicosia
Aspasia Skouroumouni Stavrinou, Department of Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies University of Cyprus Nicosia
Moderator/Chair:Mati Meyer, Department of Literature, Language & Arts, Open University of Israel, Raanana
Paper 1108-aBirth and Maternity in Byzantine Prayerbooks
(Language: English)
Eirini Afentoulidou, Abteilung Byzanzforschung Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Gender Studies, Lay Piety, Mentalities
Paper 1108-bChildren in Distress: Agonising Mothers as Intercessors in Byzantine Miracle Collections
(Language: English)
Andria Andreou, Department of Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies, University of Cyprus, Nicosia
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Gender Studies, Hagiography, Language and Literature - Greek
Paper 1108-cMothers in Pain: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Breastfeeding in Greek Martyrdom Accounts
(Language: English)
Christodoulos Papavarnavas, Abteilung Byzanzforschung Institut für Mittelalterforschung Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Gender Studies, Hagiography, Language and Literature - Greek
Abstract

Taking as its point of departure Susanne Dixon's dictum: 'The biology of infancy is universal, but the human perceptions of it and what it requires are socially conditioned and subject to historical change' (The Roman Mother (1988): 129), this series of sessions aims at contributing to the 'breastfeeding turn', by promoting the investigation of the various aspects of the strong affinities between woman - as mother and nurse - and her lactating breast, as well as the social, ideological, and medical meanings and uses of motherhood, childbirth, and breastfeeding, and their visual and literary representations in the Middle Ages.