Christodoulos Papavarnavas
Education
2018 Ph.D. in Byzantine Studies, University of Vienna (with Distinction/Promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis)
2014 M.A. in Byzantine Studies, University of Vienna (with Distinction)
2012 B.A. in Byzantine and Modern Greek Literature, University of Cyprus, incl. Erasmus Visiting Studentship, Freie Universität Berlin (with First Class Honours)
Positions (Selection)
Postdoc researcher in:
• the FWF Project 'Spaces that Matter: Enclosed and Secluded Places in Early and Middle Byzantine Hagiography', Austrian Academy of Sciences (March 2022-February 2026)
• the FWF Wittgenstein-Award Project 'Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency in Byzantium', Austrian Academy of Sciences (2019-2021)
• the ERC Project 'The Cult of Saints', University of Oxford (2019)
Predoc University Assistant, University of Vienna (2014-2018)
He has taught and published on Byzantine literature.
Received awards and honours (Selection: Best Academic Performance; Promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis; Grete-Mostny; Memory of Mankind).
Research interests:
• Late Antique and Byzantine Literature
• Byzantine Hagiography (primarily Martyrs’ Passions and Monastic Saints’ Lives)
• Religion and Monasticism
• Prison and Imprisonment
• Mobility and Migration
• Literary Criticism
• Audience and Reception Studies
• Critical Theories (Narrative, Performance, Space, Gender, Emotions and the Senses)
2018 Ph.D. in Byzantine Studies, University of Vienna (with Distinction/Promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis)
2014 M.A. in Byzantine Studies, University of Vienna (with Distinction)
2012 B.A. in Byzantine and Modern Greek Literature, University of Cyprus, incl. Erasmus Visiting Studentship, Freie Universität Berlin (with First Class Honours)
Positions (Selection)
Postdoc researcher in:
• the FWF Project 'Spaces that Matter: Enclosed and Secluded Places in Early and Middle Byzantine Hagiography', Austrian Academy of Sciences (March 2022-February 2026)
• the FWF Wittgenstein-Award Project 'Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency in Byzantium', Austrian Academy of Sciences (2019-2021)
• the ERC Project 'The Cult of Saints', University of Oxford (2019)
Predoc University Assistant, University of Vienna (2014-2018)
He has taught and published on Byzantine literature.
Received awards and honours (Selection: Best Academic Performance; Promotion sub auspiciis praesidentis; Grete-Mostny; Memory of Mankind).
Research interests:
• Late Antique and Byzantine Literature
• Byzantine Hagiography (primarily Martyrs’ Passions and Monastic Saints’ Lives)
• Religion and Monasticism
• Prison and Imprisonment
• Mobility and Migration
• Literary Criticism
• Audience and Reception Studies
• Critical Theories (Narrative, Performance, Space, Gender, Emotions and the Senses)
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Books by Christodoulos Papavarnavas
Open access - the entire book can be downloaded for free via: https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/book/10.14220/9783737013413?fbclid=IwAR1l2K37GzARH1Ts8hTQYaYvAokpjgaf0URlZnvo4gTX1v8KNRzJ6OQLT6c
Dieses Buch behandelt die literarische Darstellung des Gefängnisses als Schwellenraum in den früh- und mittelbyzantinischen Märtyrerakten. Dabei wird das Gefängnis als Übergangsraum aufgezeigt, in dem sich körperliche Ausdauer und spirituelle Reife der Protagonisten zu deren Identität als Märtyrer herausbilden. Zentrale Untersuchungsaspekte sind: Terminologie, Erzählstruktur, Gender und Empfindungen.
This volume investigates the literary depiction of prison as a liminal space in early and middle Byzantine martyrs’ Passions. Prison proves to be a transitional space where both the formation of corporeal endurance and the spiritual maturation of the protagonists take place, contributing to their identity as martyrs. The aspects examined here include terminology, narrative structure, gender, emotions and the senses.
Articles by Christodoulos Papavarnavas
This article investigates stories of holiness which have ascetics or monastics as their hero(in)es and which develop based on a careful interlocking of two concepts: wanderings in urban or desert environments and self-confinement in enclosed or secluded spaces. Through a close reading of two saints’ Lives (i.e., the Life of Mary of Egypt and the Life of Matrona of Perge) dating to the early and middle Byzantine periods, the present analysis uncovers the tripartite relationship between movement, confinement, and spiritual advancement from a literary-narrative point of view, thus deepening our understanding of asceticism and monasticism in Byzantine contexts.
Abstract: This paper shows that the protagonists of Byzantine Passions are often depicted as attaining holiness while on the move: after their arrest by pagan soldiers, Christian martyrs are subjected to travels for legal reasons. Drawing on the anthropological concept of liminality (Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner), I will suggest that such inflicted travels or transfers in Byzantine Passions serve as liminal phases between interrogation, torture, imprisonment, and execution, by which the protagonists ascend to the state of holiness. The paper, structured in three major sections, focuses on scenes of ‘imprisoned martyrs on the move’ as delineated in both pre-Metaphrastic and Metaphrastic martyrdom accounts (fourth–tenth centuries). After a concise introduction to the theoretical background and the text corpus of this study, the main sections explicate the motif of imposed movement in conjunction with the literary construction of holiness, the spiritual formation of the audience, and the structure of a martyrdom narrative.
Book Reviews by Christodoulos Papavarnavas
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/851435/pdf?fbclid=IwAR37GGgDFAKhbxGekcD1MnT6T3igz_WM5uI_rS1y9TyZFrsuEwzTvLsXJlc
Talks by Christodoulos Papavarnavas
Open access - the entire book can be downloaded for free via: https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/book/10.14220/9783737013413?fbclid=IwAR1l2K37GzARH1Ts8hTQYaYvAokpjgaf0URlZnvo4gTX1v8KNRzJ6OQLT6c
Dieses Buch behandelt die literarische Darstellung des Gefängnisses als Schwellenraum in den früh- und mittelbyzantinischen Märtyrerakten. Dabei wird das Gefängnis als Übergangsraum aufgezeigt, in dem sich körperliche Ausdauer und spirituelle Reife der Protagonisten zu deren Identität als Märtyrer herausbilden. Zentrale Untersuchungsaspekte sind: Terminologie, Erzählstruktur, Gender und Empfindungen.
This volume investigates the literary depiction of prison as a liminal space in early and middle Byzantine martyrs’ Passions. Prison proves to be a transitional space where both the formation of corporeal endurance and the spiritual maturation of the protagonists take place, contributing to their identity as martyrs. The aspects examined here include terminology, narrative structure, gender, emotions and the senses.
This article investigates stories of holiness which have ascetics or monastics as their hero(in)es and which develop based on a careful interlocking of two concepts: wanderings in urban or desert environments and self-confinement in enclosed or secluded spaces. Through a close reading of two saints’ Lives (i.e., the Life of Mary of Egypt and the Life of Matrona of Perge) dating to the early and middle Byzantine periods, the present analysis uncovers the tripartite relationship between movement, confinement, and spiritual advancement from a literary-narrative point of view, thus deepening our understanding of asceticism and monasticism in Byzantine contexts.
Abstract: This paper shows that the protagonists of Byzantine Passions are often depicted as attaining holiness while on the move: after their arrest by pagan soldiers, Christian martyrs are subjected to travels for legal reasons. Drawing on the anthropological concept of liminality (Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner), I will suggest that such inflicted travels or transfers in Byzantine Passions serve as liminal phases between interrogation, torture, imprisonment, and execution, by which the protagonists ascend to the state of holiness. The paper, structured in three major sections, focuses on scenes of ‘imprisoned martyrs on the move’ as delineated in both pre-Metaphrastic and Metaphrastic martyrdom accounts (fourth–tenth centuries). After a concise introduction to the theoretical background and the text corpus of this study, the main sections explicate the motif of imposed movement in conjunction with the literary construction of holiness, the spiritual formation of the audience, and the structure of a martyrdom narrative.
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/851435/pdf?fbclid=IwAR37GGgDFAKhbxGekcD1MnT6T3igz_WM5uI_rS1y9TyZFrsuEwzTvLsXJlc
Confirmed speaker: Prof. Béatrice Caseau (Sorbonne Université)
Scholars selected to present in the online “Spaces that Matter” sessions will have the Full Virtual Only Registration Fees for the IMC (Standard rate or Student/Retired/Unwaged/Low-Waged rate) covered by our FWF project.
Applications should be sent by 13 September 2024 to Dr. Christodoulos Papavarnavas (christodoulos.papavarnavas@oeaw.ac.at). Papers will be selected by 20 September 2024 and successful candidates must confirm their participation by 23 September 2024. The Call for Papers with further details is available on the project website: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/imafo/research/byzantine-research/language-text-and-script/language-use-and-literature/spaces-that-matter.
Spaces Make Saints: Experiencing Confinement in Byzantine Hagiography
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Organised in the framework of the project ‘Spaces that Matter: Enclosed and Secluded Places in Early and Middle Byzantine Hagiography’, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF no. P34478-G)
Programme and Abstracts: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/imafo/research/byzantine-research/language-text-and-script/language-use-and-literature/spaces-that-matter
Diese Arbeit behandelt zum einen die Rolle des textuellen Publikums, also der Zuschauer des Martyriums, in sechs Märtyrerakten, die aus der Zeit vor der Abfassung des Menologiums Symeons des Metaphrasten (10. Jh.) stammen und als seine Vorlagen gelten, und zum anderen die Wirkung der genannten Texte auf das außertextuelle Publikum (Leser/Zuhörer) in der byzantinischen Zeit. Untersucht werden drei Gruppenmartyrien (Das Martyrium der Pistis, Elpis, Agape und ihrer Mutter Sophia, BHG 1637z; das Martyrium der zehn Märtyrer von Kreta, BHG 1196; das Martyrium der vierzig Märtyrer von Sebaste, BHG 1201), zwei Doppelmartyrien (Das Martytium von Eulampios und Eulampia, BHG 616; das Martyrium von Sergios und Bakchos, BHG 1624) und schließlich ein Einzelmartyrium (Das Martyrium der Juliana von Nikomedien, BHG 962z). Die Interpretation dieser Märtyrerakten anhand der Rolle des textuellen Publikums und seines Kontextes kann nicht nur zum vollständigeren Verständnis jedes einzelnen Martyriums, sondern auch zur Rekonstruktion des Verhältnisses des Textes zum außertextuellen Publikum führen.
Schlagwörter auf Deutsch:
Publikum / Rezeption / byzantinische Hagiographie / Literatur / Märtyrerakten / Martyrien / handschriftliche Überlieferung
--Abstract in English:
This thesis discusses, on the one hand, the role of the textual audience, namely the spectators of the martyrdom, in six Passions dated from the time before the composition of the Menologion of Symeon the Metaphrast (10th century) and considered as his textual sources (“Vorlagen”). On the other hand, it deals with the impact of these texts on the extra-textual audience (reader/listener) throughout the Byzantine era. I examine three Passions of groups of martyrs (the Passion of Pistis, Elpis, Agape and their mother Sophia, BHG 1637z; the Passion of the Ten Martyrs of Crete, BHG 1196; the Passion of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, BHG 1201), two Passions of two individuals (the Passion of Eulampios and Eulampia, BHG 616; the Passion of Sergios and Bakchos, BHG 1624) and finally, one individual Passion (the Passion of Juliana of Nicomedia, BHG 962z). The interpretation of these Passions based on the role of the textual audience and its context can lead not only to a better understanding of each Passion, but also to the reconstruction of the relationship between the text and the extra-textual audience.
Keywords in English:
Audience / Reception / Byzantine Hagiography / Literature / Passions / Martyrdoms / Manuscript tradition