The Secret of a Good Story: The Byzantine Twelfth-Century Novel in Context, lecture by Ingela Nilsson (Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul), Boğaziçi University Byzantine Studies Research Center, April 3, 2019, 5:00 pm

Ancient and Byzantine novels were for a long time neglected or even despised by scholars for being silly love stories of little concern to the overall history of pre-modern literature written in Greek. The past couple of decades have seen a decisive shift in attitude and the novels are now seen as a relevant part of both the ancient and the Byzantine heritage, with significant connections to both Eastern and European novelistic traditions. The twelfth-century novels in particular have been subject to an increasing interest: reappraised as rhetorical set pieces written by authors close to the Komnenian court, they are now accepted as central works of an experimental and sophisticated literary culture. This lecture offers an introduction to the genre in light of this scholarly development.

Ingela Nilsson is Professor of Greek at Uppsala University and is currently Director of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul. She studies Greek and Byzantine literature and culture with a special focus on adaptation, narration and reception.