Reading the Corpus of Gregory of Nazianzus by Way of the Margins

Reading the Corpus of Gregory of Nazianzus by Way of the MarginsInstrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia 96Syriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/EPFD3M7Q/tei

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2025-05-20-05:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Jonathan AndrewLoopstraReading the Corpus of Gregory of Nazianzus by Way of the Marginshttp://syriaca.org/cbss/EPFD3M7Qhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/EPFD3M7Qhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/EPFD3M7QCarolineMacéOrganising a Literary Corpus in the Middle Ages: The Corpus Nazianzenum and the Corpus DionysiacumTurnhoutBrepols2024449-509Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia 96Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 390 ce) is known simply as “the Theologian” in both Western and Eastern Christian communities. Thanks to his rich Greek prose and articulate theological musings, his writings are profound but not necessarily easy, even for native Greek speakers. Among Syriac-heritage Christians, Gregory was highly respected, and his style even emulated, though in Syriac translation. Because Syriac-Christian communities lacked ready access to the works of Homer and much of Classical literature, Gregory’s Orations were particularly important for their role as an access point to pagan learning through a trusted Christian source. Indeed, three remarkable commentaries on Gregory’s Orations have been preserved in Syriac, works that are only now in the process of being translated and published. This study suggests that the CN in Syriac came to resemble something akin to a living “body” of material, with glosses and commentary that often transcend the boundaries of genre. Manuscripts comprising the highly literal translation of Pawla of Edessa (623-624 ce), replete with neologisms and Greek vocabulary, include paratextual features that were integrated with the text and were passed down with successive manuscript copies. Moreover, the users of these manuscripts also added their own glosses, often reflecting material we find in near-contemporary commentary or šmāhē (“masoretic”) manuscripts. In short, those readers who approached the CN in Syriac appear to have brought with them a framework for reading the Theologian that transcended the translation itself. In other words, this medieval Syriac corpus came to resemble what the conveners of this conference have labeled “an ever growing ‘exoskeleton’, which sometimes superseded or even obliterated the actual ‘body’ on which it was built.” Loopstra, Jonathan Andrew. “Reading the Corpus of Gregory of Nazianzus by Way of the Margins.” In Organising a Literary Corpus in the Middle Ages: The Corpus Nazianzenum and the Corpus Dionysiacum, edited by Caroline Macé, 449–509. Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia 96. Turnhout: Brepols, 2024. Jonathan Andrew Loopstra, Reading the Corpus of Gregory of Nazianzus by Way of the Margins, in Organising a Literary Corpus in the Middle Ages: The Corpus Nazianzenum and the Corpus Dionysiacum, ed. Caroline Macé, Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia 96 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2024), 449–509.