This is an area where narrative theory has not yet been fully developed or even applied, especially not for the medieval context. Recent years have seen an increasing interest in the issue of a diachronization of narratology. In the words of Eva von Contzen, the need is not for “a theory of narrative that is (re)constructed from medieval discussions about how to compose and structure texts, but rather a narrative theory that seeks to explain the forms and functions of medieval practices of narration”. An important part of such practices is the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic features that mark numerous narratives in Byzantium. The development of a narrative theory and method that takes into account those specific features is a crucial part of the present programme.While Greek remained the dominant language throughout the Byzantine millennium, it was not the only linguistic expression within the large expanse of the empire.
Arabic culture in many ways influenced Byzantine life and thought, and as a discursive interchange, translation centers in Syria (e.g. the communities of the Black Mountain near Antioch), Palestine (especially the Lavra of Mar Saba near Jerusalem), and Sinai became the dominant players in the Arab Christian communities. After the Muslim conquest of the Middle East in the seventh century, many indigenous Christian populations gradually adopted Arabic as their principal spoken, written, and—in varying degrees—liturgical language. They translated thousands of Christian texts from their ancestral languages (Greek, Syriac, Coptic, and Persian) into Arabic.
While Greek remained the dominant language throughout the Byzantine millennium, it was not the only linguistic expression within the large expanse of the empire.
The strongest case for a Greek-Georgian writer of importance for the Byzantine storyworld is Euthymios the Athonite (or the Iberian, i.e. the Georgian; ca. 955-1028), who not only produced an impressive bulk of Greek-Georgian translations (mostly of Biblical, patristic and hagiographical works), but also translated the immensely popular Life of Barlaam and Ioasaph as well as parts of the Life of Theodore of Edessa, a centerpiece in our programme, from Georgian into Greek.
The Slavic world was—in comparison to the others—a late arrival to the Christian world, and remained mostly a target-language rather than a source-language as far as translations were concerned. During our period, a substantial corpus of Greek storytelling entered the Slavic tradition with a peculiar emphasis non-canonical Bible books.
But the linguistic background to our programme is not only delineated by clear exchanges between two languages. Most multi-lingual settings actually involved more than two languages, and many more than those mentioned somewhere tie into the process. Georgian, Slavic, and South- Italian monks took up dialogue in monasteries on mount Athos, just as Georgian-, Greek-, Syriac- and Arabic-speaking Christian communities would meet in Edessa, Damascus, or Jerusalem, and their surroundings. All languages were more or less continuously used also in writing in Constantinople.
The study of many stories involve engagement with texts in many languages.
To a large extent, the make-up of the menologion was driven primarily by Constantinopolitan, main-stream concerns and ideologies. As it disseminated geographically, the menologion took up multiple, disparate shapes and forms. Apart from the ones observable in different languages, a distinct yet internal (as far as Greek is concerned) variation is traceable in manuscripts created and circulating in Southern Italy, where Greek-speaking communities flourished during the period in question.
To a large extent, the make-up of the menologion was driven primarily by Constantinopolitan, main-stream concerns and ideologies. As it disseminated geographically, the menologion took up multiple, disparate shapes and forms. Apart from the ones observable in different languages, a distinct yet internal (as far as Greek is concerned) variation is traceable in manuscripts created and circulating in Southern Italy, where Greek-speaking communities flourished during the period in question.