A Stream on “Hate Speech in Greek Literature of the Ancient and Byzantine Period”
as part of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Classical and Byzantine Studies
3-6 June 2019, Athens, Greece
The Athens Center for Classical & Byzantine Studies (ACCBS) of ATINER organizes a Stream on “Hate Speech in Greek Literature of the Ancient and Byzantine Period” as part of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Classical and Byzantine Studies, 3-6 June 2019, Athens, Greece sponsored by the Athens Journal of Philology, the Athens Journal of History, Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts, Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies and the Athens Journal of Architecture.
The project in its range of research covers various literary genres cultivated in Ancient times, like deliberative rhetoric, forensic rhetoric, Old Comedy, Platonic dialogue, political historiography and the literary genres of the Byzantine times, such as hagiography, satire, theological historiography, occasional logoi declaimed on the occasion of important religious or court events, and any literary genre which includes so-called ‘hate speech’ and which enables us to analyze it in the context of intellectual activity of the authors by their ‘thinking through language.’ The aim of the project is to examine the functions of rhetorical means that generate negative emotions (hatred, anger, disgust, resentment, revulsion, fear, fright) in the individual or collective recipient.
A look at the phenomenon of ‘hate speech’ in a diachronic perspective gives one an opportunity to present the so-called deinoza, ‘vehemence’, as an integral part of Greek culture, developed as a consequence of parrhesia in democratic Athens and continued in different political formations: pagan autocracy or the Christian feudal system. ‘Hate speech’ influences decision-making processes, shaping the opinions and tastes of the recipient, both individual and collective. The project aims to illustrate the creative function of ‘hate speech’ and, also, to show that ‘hate speech’ is an integral part of Greek culture, which seems to be significant due to its destroying the image of Apollonian order and rationality, so closely associated, in popular opinion, with Hellenic culture.
The phenomenon of deinoza can be observed in its full extent in the deliberative genre of Ancient Greek rhetoric, but it relates to debate in any genre/form which has the features of pro and contra, which is filled with dilemmas and ethical antitheses such as good-evil, safety-danger, security-harmfulness etc. Rhetorical ‘deliberation’ is used in various literary genres, both in prose and verse, in the so called didactic-moralistic literature. The Byzantine period is a time of confirmation of the use of rhetorical devices, applied, however, in a different context, which entails the process of adaptation and transformation of traditional (Ancient) means of ‘hate speech’ to new circumstances and needs. You may participate as presenter of one paper, chair or/and organizer of a session, or observer.
Fee structure information is available on www.atiner.gr/fees.
Conference organizers are responsible for making special arrangements with local hotels for a limited number of rooms at a special conference rate; the price of the room is included in the conference fee, while the room reservation is secured upon payment of the fee. The conference also includes a number of special events at an additional cost: A night of Greek food and entertainment, a special one-day cruise to select Greek islands, an archaeological tour of Athens, and a one-day visit to Delphi. More details on the social program are available here.
To submit an abstract, please fill out the abstract submission form and send it via email to <atiner@atiner.gr> addressed to: Dr. Krystyna Tuszynska, Academic Member, ATINER & Professor, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland. Abstracts should include the following: Title of Paper, Author(s)’ Full Name(s), Affiliation, Current Position, an email address, and at least 3 keywords that best describe the subject of your submission. Decisions are reached within 4 weeks.
Scholars wishing to participate without presenting a paper, they may contribute by leading a stream, chairing a session, reviewing papers to be included in the conference proceedings or in volumes of collected essays, or editing a book. To do so, they may send an email with their proposal to Dr. Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER (president@atiner.gr).
ATINER was established in 1995 as an independent, non-profit, world association of Academics and Researchers. Its mission is to act as a forum where Academics and Researchers from all over the world can meet in Athens, in order to exchange ideas on their research and discuss future developments in their disciplines.
The main purpose of ATINER is to organize and host International Conferences and Symposiums, facilitate original Research and produce Open-Source Publications in the form of monographs, volumes of collected essays, and journal articles. Since 1995, ATINER has organized more than 400 International Conferences and other academic events, and has published close to 200 books. In 2012, the Association launched a series of conference paper publications (click here), and at the beginning of 2014 it introduced its own series of Journals (click here).
The Association is organized into 6 Divisions, 37 Units and 6 Centers. Each Unit organizes at least one Annual International Conference and may undertake various research projects.
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