11th International Symposium on Byzantine and Medieval Studies "Days of Justinian I", Skopje, November 10–12, 2023
The International scientific symposium "Days of Justinian I" is an annual interdisciplinary scholarly forum aimed at the presentation of the latest research followed by discussions on various aspects of Byzantine and Medieval Studies before 1500; this includes the treatment and interpretation of cultural, historical and spiritual heritage in contemporary modern Europe. The Symposium is dedicated to Emperor Justinian I with the aim to bring together scholars from around the world to address a broad range of issues related to Byzantium and the European Middle Ages, comprising the exploration of the cultural and historical legacy as an integrative component of the diversities and commonalities of Europe and wider.
Special Thematic Strand: Narratives
This year’s special thematic strand aims to incite scholarly debate about the wide spectrum of ideas and definitions about the Narratives and how they were crafted in Eastern Roman Empire and in Medieval Western Europe. Various questions will be addressed in exploring how the narrative stories about particular individuals, groups, people, described the specific things, places and the world, reflected the past and present, the factuality or invention. This will encompass many aspects of narratives and how they functioned on different levels, through which the people of the Byzantine and Western Medieval World gave meaning to their lives and the society, stated their belonging and formed their identities.
The symposium will embrace the varieties of political, ideological, cultural, social or religious dimensions of the narratives and how they reflected the lives and identities in the Eastern Roman Empire and Medieval Western Europe, that included the claims to the heritage.
Papers are welcomed on various topics that may include, but are not limited to the following areas of discussion:
- Narrative and identity
- Narrative strategies
- Narrative, politics and ideology
- Narrative and historiography
- Narrative and metanarrative
- Military narrative
- Narrative and society
- Narrative in art history and material culture
- Narrative in the legal texts
- Narrative and ethnicity
- Gender and Narrative
- Religion, hagiography and narrative
- Heresy and alternative narrative
- Narratology between reality and invention
- Narrative and Heritage
- Cultural heritage: Interpretation, restoration and protection
Working languages: Macedonian and English.
Presentation of the papers will be limited to 10 minutes. Please note that the Organizing Committee will organize blended sessions with physical presence and online presentations for remote participation.
Organized by the Institute of National History, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje and University of Bologna, in partnership with Faculty of Theology "St. Clement of Ohrid", Skopje.
Symposiarch: Professor Mitko B. Panov