Storyworlds in Collections. Toward a Theory of the Ancient and Byzantine Tale (2nd c.–7th c. CE), University of Cyprus, November 26–28, 2021
The Cyprus-based innovative research project “Storyworlds in Collections: Toward a Theory of the Ancient and Byzantine Tale (2nd–7th c. CE)”, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the Research and Innovation Foundation (POST-DOC/O718/0021), invites proposals for the concluding international conference of the project.
The conference aims to further foster research on the Greco-Roman and Early Byzantine Tale. Papers are expected to focus on the investigation of the large spectrum of ancient and Byzantine tales, the process of storytelling and the dissemination and reception of tales. Suggested topics include, but are not restricted, to the following:
- The development of the genre of the tale and the intercultural influences that determine its rise and evolution
- The various tale subcategories and their development over time
- Repetition of certain types of tales and the context that nurtures this repetition
- The interrelationships among different tale categories and the reasons for which certain categories become dominant in particular periods
- The way tales travel from one period to another and the manner through which they are adapted to meet new situations and needs
- The narrative components of the tale and their interrelations
- The ways in which social categories, such as class and gender, determine a tale’s character and form
- The ways in which collections of tales come into being and their organising principles
- The inclusion of tales in other genres, such as epistolography, novel, biography, and historiography
We are open to various of approaches, especially interdisciplinary ones, which initiate a dialogue among various disciplines such as Classics, Byzantine Studies, Critical Theory, and Gender and Performance Studies.
Presentations are expected to have a duration of 20 minutes and will be given in English.