Religious Competition in Late Antiquity
Program Unit Type: Section
Accepting Papers? Yes
Call For Papers: The first session, “The Rhetoric of Foreign” will explore the label ‘foreign’, as it often serves as an evaluative statement, rather than a neutral descriptive term in ancient Mediterranean literature. For example, an author who wishes to discredit a particular cultic practice may label that practice ‘foreign’, ‘barbarian’, or ‘Canaanite’. Scholars have often taken these labels as accurate descriptions for understanding differences between normative and non-orthodox representations of society, belief, and ritual, and in doing so they reproduce the interested stance of the primary text. This session will focus on the rhetorical use of labels such as "foreign" in ancient texts, with the goal of correcting/redirecting scholarly understandings of the practice. We welcome papers that will examine this problem within biblical or late antique contexts.
The second session invites papers that analyze representations of martyrdom in Late Antiquity. While religious, cultural, and political competition is inherent in martyrdom accounts, there is room for greater discussion about the role of representations of martyrs (in texts, art, architecture, etc.) in inter- and intra-religious competition. Contributors should consider the important rhetorical aspects of these representations that, when unpacked, can tell us much about competition between particular communities.
Third, in collaboration with the AAR Middle Eastern Christianity Group and the SBL Religious Competition in Late Antiquity unit we seek proposals that address wisdom literature in the Middle Eastern Christian communities. The program units invite proposals that investigate wisdom literature in the Syriac milieu as it is understood broadly—including related Christian traditions in other Middle Eastern languages, such as Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Greek, etc. Proposals focused on any historical period are welcome, and abstracts must demonstrate methodological and theoretical rigor.
Program Unit Chairs
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