"A conversation with Kevin van Bladel on his proposal regarding "The Classical Near East," a constellation of fields defined by the classical literary traditions of medieval Near Eastern cultures, including Byzantium."
"We talk about languages, fields, classical traditions, translations, and more."
"The conversation is based on Kevin's chapter 'The Classical Near East' in E. S. Bolman et al., eds., Worlds of Byzantium: Religion, Culture, and Empire in the Medieval Near East (Cambridge, 2024)."
"Byzantium & Friends is hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, a Professor at the University of Chicago. You can follow him on his personal website. You can listen to more episodes of Byzantium & Friends through Podbean, Spotify or Apple Podcasts."
The Classical Near East is framed as a constellation of interrelated fields shaped by the classical literary traditions of medieval Near Eastern cultures, with Byzantium as a central component. Emphasis falls on multilingual interactions, shared canons, and the role of translation in transmitting texts across Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Armenian, and other traditions. Scholarly focus shifts toward comparative, cross-disciplinary study that integrates philology, history, and religious studies. Institutional and curricular practices should reflect historical networks of learning and textual exchange to better capture the region's intellectual interconnectedness.
Read at Medievalists.net
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