Why another greek chronicle?: Form and function in middle byzantine historical writing

This paper addresses Byzantine historical writing departing from the parameters of author, work and formal genre. Thus, instead of considering it as a sum of individual enterprises, emphasis will be placed on the concept of tradition. This will lead us to approach to Byzantine historiography as a co...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Varona Codeso, Patricia
Tipo de recurso: capítulo de libro
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/716537
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/716537
https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004392076_010
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Byzantine Historical Writing
Byzantine historiography
Middle Byzantine period
Medieval literature
Manuscripts
Filología
Literatura
Descripción
Sumario:This paper addresses Byzantine historical writing departing from the parameters of author, work and formal genre. Thus, instead of considering it as a sum of individual enterprises, emphasis will be placed on the concept of tradition. This will lead us to approach to Byzantine historiography as a collective endeavour governed by formal and functional trends, and focused on developing an account of the past duly updated and in line with the main concerns of a given time. On the basis of relevant texts from the middle Byzantine period, the development of this historiographical tradition will be traced according to two main purposes: the construction of an organized and continuous account of the past from Creation until the present day, and the additional explanation of the events perceived as most relevant by altering their current narrative. This approach, combined with an in-depth study of the manuscript evidence, can help us to understand Byzantine historiography as a medieval literary product and to connect it with other contemporary traditions more researched as such