Orality and Literacy in Early Christianity (EABS)

Call For Papers: After investigating the status and role of ancient media and technologies of communication within 1st century Mediterranean cultures (Leuven 2016), in 2017 the research group “Orality and Literacy in Early Christianity” will focus on the oldest Christian documents that have come down to us, namely the correspondence of Paul. In the context of the first Christian generation – a mainly “non-literary” movement –, this well-known exception deserves partic-ular attention. Presenters will conduct these investigations in three main directions; they will explore: (1) The apostle’s degree of literacy, his status as the first Christian author and/or as a figure of the oral tradition and the role of the apostle’s secretaries, collaborators and tabelarii in the composition, transmission and reception of his letters; (2) Reasons why the Pauline Christianity of the first generation has chosen to write letters and their status as well as functions in the face of the “living voice”; (3) The “textualization” of the (oral) Jesus’ memory in this context, its literary and social mechanisms as well as its new rhetorical function(s). The research group is open to various methodologies and approaches to address these issues, particularly the use of historical, anthropological, sociological, literary and papyrological methods. In 2017, there will be both a session with invited speakers and other sessions with contributions from this call for papers.

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