BYZANTIUMANDTHEMODERNIMAGINATIONPATTERNSOFTHERECEPTIONOFBYZANTIUMINMODERNCULTURE

MasarykUniversity,BrnoFacultyofArts,DepartmentofClassicalStudies12-14September2018Organisers:MarketaKulhánková(Brno,CzechRepublic) PrzemysławMarciniak(Katowice,Poland)

THECONFERENCEISORGANISEDASPARTOFTHEACTIVITIESOFTHE“BYZANTINERECEPTIONSNETWORK.TOWARDSANEWFIELDOFRECEPTIONSTUDIES”GENEROUSLYFUNDEDBYTHEALEXANDERVONHUMBOLDT

STIFTUNG

The imagery of Byzantium in popular discourse is a culturally and historically constructednotion.Ashasbeennoted,theveryname“Byzantium”isbotharetronymandanexonym,andscholarstodayveryofteninsistonusingamoreproperdescription–“TheEasternRomanEmpire”.Writers, playwrights,musicians, andpoliticians throughout centuries constructedtheirownversionsofByzantium,whichdependedonlocalartisticorpoliticalneeds.Inmanycasestheseconstructedversionshadverylittletodowiththe“historical”Byzantium.Yet,atthesametime,academicdiscoursemight–anddid–influencetheimageryofByzantiuminthe popular imagination. During the conferencewewould like to discuss these imaginaryvisions of Byzantium, including the intersections of popular and academic images ofByzantium. We also welcome papers dealing with the use (and abuse) of key events inByzantinehistory(suchastheFallofCity)andtheirreworkingsinliteratureandculture.

Topicsofinterestincludebutarenotlimitedto:

- ThereceptionofByzantiuminschoolbooksinEuropeandbeyond;- Byzantiumfortheyoung–Byzantiuminchildren’sliteratureandgames;- LiteraryreworkingsofkeyeventsandpersonagesinthehistoryofByzantium;- ByzantineStudiesanditsinfluenceonthepopularunderstandingofByzantium;- ThewaysofpopularisingByzantium;- Byzantiuminthedigitalage;- Byzantiuminpopularculture(games,speculativefiction,TVseries,films).

Pleasesendtheabstract(nomorethan300words)fora20minutespresentationtoPrzemysławMarciniak(przemyslaw.marciniak@us.edu.pl)byMarch,302018.

Background:EntwurffürdenWandfriesimPalaisStocletinBrüssel,Detail:Lebensbaum(Source:WikimediaCommons)