Online Journal Volume (Classics@ 24): Emotion and Performance in Late Antiquity and Byzantium

This volume reflects the outcomes of an international symposium held in April 2021, itself the result of a research project launched in 2016 that aimed to unravel the hidden codes embedded in performance and performativity within the written and visual sources of the Late Antique and Byzantine periods. The contributions encompass a broad spectrum of interests in cultural history. The interplay among various aspects of Byzantine cultural history is evident in these papers, which address texts, theology and liturgy, music, art, and modern interpretations, alongside the expression of performativity in everyday life in Byzantium.

This project and conference extend the scope of performativity beyond theatrical representation, examining indirect performative forms found in written and art-historical records. Moreover, they investigate how emotion is elicited in both secular and sacred rhetorical texts and performances, particularly as manifested in Liturgy and the homiletic tradition, characterized by intense emotions that engage and transport audiences beyond their everyday concerns.