Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Literature

Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Literature Synopsis

This volume, the first ever of its kind in English, introduces and surveys Greek literature in Byzantium (330 - 1453 CE). In twenty-five chapters composed by leading specialists, The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Literature surveys the immense body of Greek literature produced from the fourth to the fifteenth century CE and advances a nuanced understanding of what "e;literature"e; was in Byzantium. This volume is structured in four sections. The first, "e;Materials, Norms, Codes,"e; presents basic structures for understanding the history of Byzantine literature like language, manuscript book culture, theories of literature, and systems of textual memory. The second, "e;Forms,"e; deals with the how Byzantine literature works: oral discourse and "e;text"e;; storytelling; rhetoric; re-writing; verse; and song. The third section ("e;Agents"e;) focuses on the creators of Byzantine literature, both its producers and its recipients. The final section, entitled "e;Translation, Transmission, Edition,"e; surveys the three main ways by which we access Byzantine Greek literature today: translations into other Byzantine languages during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages; Byzantine and post-Byzantine manuscripts; and modern printed editions. The volume concludes with an essay that offers a view of the recent past--as well as the likely future--of Byzantine literary studies.