LiDoBIPH. A LInguistic DOssier of Byzantine Interreligious and interconfessional Prejudice and Hatred
The project investigates the ethno-religious stereotypes concerning Muslims and Latin Christians that are deeply rooted and pervasive in Byzantine literature. Specifically, the study focuses on the use of the Greek language and rhetoric in literary sources produced from approximately the 7 th to the 14 th centuries, within the context of civilisational conflicts between the Greek (Orthodox) world on one side, and Muslims and Latins on the other. The research aims to explore how Byzantine religious discourse shaped literary language to convey and reinforce ethno-religious stereotypes. Through formulaic and recurrent linguistic patterns, Byzantine writers constructed images of representatives of opposing religions and beliefs; in doing so, they frequently ridiculed, dehumanised, or even demonised them by employing derogatory labels that conveyed identity claims and served political agendas. The objectives of the LiDoBIPH project are: a) to identify standardised linguistic expressions (specifically derogatory epithets, nouns, and verbs) directed against Muslims and Latins in Byzantine literature, which were intended to transmit prejudices about their character, habits, moral qualities, physical characteristics, and perceived religious errors; b) to create a “linguistic dossier” in which these expressions are catalogued and analysed from a historical-semantic perspective; and c) to apply to the collected data the critical framework of discourse analysis and the interpretative lens of “hate speech”, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved in constructing collective identities and alterity in medieval culture and mentality. Special attention is also given to the differences in the treatment of genders within the broader polemic against the ethno-religious Other.
Sottosettore ERC del proponente del progetto: SH5_4 (Philology; text and image studies)
ERC: SH5_1, SH5_2, SH5_4, SH5_6, SH6_13, SH8_1, SH8_3
Keywords: BYZANTINE LITERATURE, GREEK DEROGATORY LANGUAGE, INSULTS, HATE SPEECH, ETHNO-RELIGIOUS PREJUDICES, COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES, OTHERNESS, LATINS, ISLAM.
Selected Bibliography
- ANTONOPOULOU, Th. (2022). “Beyond Religion: Homilies as Conveyors of Political Ideology in Middle Byzantium”. Stouraitis, Y. (ed.), Identities and Ideologies in the Medieval East Roman World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 100-28.
- BIANCHI, C. (2021). Hate speech. Il lato oscuro del linguaggio. Roma; Bari: Laterza.
- KAMEN, D. (2020). Insults in Classical Athens. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
- BRINTON, L.J. (2001) “Historical Discourse Analysis”. Schiffrin, D. et al. (eds), The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Malden, MA; Oxford: Blackwell, 138-60.
- DURAK, K.; JEVTIĆ, I. (2019b). “Identity and the Other in Byzantine Studies: An Introduction”. Durak, K.; Jevtić, I. (eds), Identity and the Other in Byzantium. Papers from the Fourth International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium, Istanbul, 23-25 June 2016. Istanbul: Koç University Press, 3-22.
- HALDON, J.; STOURAITIS, Y. (2022). “Introduction. The Ideology of Identities and the Identity of Ideologies”. Stouraitis, Y. (ed.), Identities and Ideologies in the Medieval East Roman World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1-16.
- HINTERBERGER, M. (2011). “A Neglected Tool of Orthodox Propaganda? The Image of the Latins in Byzantine Hagiography”. Hinterberger, M.; Schabel, Ch. (eds), Greeks, Latins, and Intellectual History (1204-1500). Leuven; Paris; Walpole, MA: Peeters, 129-50.
- HUNGER, H. (1987). Graeculus perfidus, Ἰταλὸς ἰταμός. Il senso dell’alterità nei rapporti greco-romani ed italo-bizantini. Roma: Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell’Arte in Roma, 15-47. Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell’Arte in Roma, Conferenze 4.
- KALDELLIS, A. (2017). “The Social Scope of Roman Identity in Byzantium: An Evidence-Based Approach”. Βυζαντινά Σύμμεικτα, 27, 173-210.
- POLEMIS, I. (2021). “A Rhetorical Genre (?). The Invective (Ninth-Fifteenth Centuries)”. Papaioannou, S. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 336-47.
- ROTMAN, Y. (2022). “Religious Hatred and Byzantine Ideology before the Crusades”. Βυζαντινά Σύμμεικτα, 32, 201-228.
- STATHAKOPOULOS, D. (2022). “Irrevocable Blood: Violence and Collective Identity Formation in Late Twelfth Century”. Stouraitis (ed.), Identities and Ideologies in the Medieval East Roman World. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 268-86.
- STOURAITIS, I. (2014). “Roman Identity in Byzantium: A Critical Approach”. BZ, 107, 175-220.
PNRR - Missione 4 "Istruzione e Ricerca" - Componente 2 "Dalla Ricerca all'Impresa" - Investimento 1.2 "Finanziamento di progetti presentati da giovani ricercatori" (2022)