Cult Places as « lieux de mémoire » in the Ancient Mediterranean (Ordinario)
Prerequisiti
There are no prerequisites; the course is open to everyone, including undergraduates and postgraduates.
It is strongly recommended that you attend the supplementary teaching sessions in October (12 hours).
Programma
The course aims to explore the concept of lieu de mémoire (P. Nora, ed., Les lieux de mémoire, vol. 1). La République; 2. La Nation; 3. Les France, Paris: Gallimard, 1984–1992; cf. M. Isnenghi (ed.), I luoghi della memoria, Rome–Bari: Laterza, 3 vols., 1996–1997), to explore various aspects of places of worship as physical spaces for processing and stratifying individual and collective, familial and civic memories. A wide range of themes will be covered, including: foundation; colonisation; imperialism; war; peace; diplomacy; myths; rites; epiphanies; festivals; construction; destruction; restoration; remodelling; evergetism; natural events; landscapes; relationship to space; archiving; management; visualisation of memory; falsification; and the libraries and 'museums' within the sanctuaries. Starting with specific examples from antiquity and the wider Mediterranean world, the course will highlight the interplay between politics and religion, as well as between collective and individual memory, drawing on literary texts, inscriptions, coins, iconographic documents and archaeological evidence. Topics covered will include birth and death, health, healing and transgressions. It will pay particular attention to competing or conflicting memories, as well as the recompositions and mediations that find significant spaces for communication within sanctuaries. Beyond spatial aspects, the analysis will explore the role of various social groups in memorial construction, in both production and use: priests, magistrates, rulers, soldiers, foreigners, women... Finally, by drawing on memory studies, we will be able to analyse the relationship between the past, present and future at both the individual and collective levels. We will also be able to explore the relationship between material, visual and discursive heritage and the construction of identity.
Obiettivi formativi
The course promotes an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to ancient religions. It provides a variety of methodological and conceptual tools, including sessions dedicated to analysing key recent works, and develops students’ critical ability to navigate different types of sources. Digital resources designed to stimulate reflection will be explored, and guest speakers will be invited to expand the range of topics and approaches. In pairs, students will conduct in-depth research on a sanctuary of their choice, presenting their findings on a poster at an international conference on the subject in Pisa in May 2027. This conference will take place at the end of the course.
Riferimenti bibliografici
Alcock, S. E. (2002), Archaeologies of the Greek Past. Landscape, Monuments, and Memories, Cambridge.
Alcock, S. E. and Van Dyke, R.M., eds. (2003), Archaeologies of Memory, Oxford.
Assmann, A. (2002), Ricordare. Forme e mutamenti della memoria culturale, Bologna.
Assmann, J. (2006), Religion and Cultural Memory, Stanford.
Azaryahu, M. and Foote, K.-E. (2008), “Historical Space as Narrative Medium: On the Configuration of Spatial Narratives of Time at Historical Sites”, GeoJournal 73, pp. 179-194.
Bettini, M. (1996), I signori della memoria e dell'oblio. Figure della comunicazione nella cultura antica, Scandicci.
Beck, H., J. Kindt, (2023), eds., The Local Horizon of Ancient Greek Religion, Cambridge: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009301862.
Belayche, N., (2024), “Autorités sacerdotales et expériences religieuses individuelles en Anatolie d’après des objets-stèles inscrits”, Kernos 37, pp. 193-218.
Boffo, L., Faraguna M. (2021), Le poleis e i loro archivi. Studi su pratiche documentarie, istituzioni e società nell’antichità greca, Trieste.
Brulé, P. (2012), Comment percevoir le sanctuaire grec ? Une analyse sensorielle du paysage sacré, Paris.
Camassa, G. (2004), “L’archivio, memoria dell’ordine del mondo”, Quaderni di storia 30, pp. 79-102.
Castagnoli L, Ceccarelli P. (2019), eds., Greek Memories: Theories and Practices, Cambridge.
Demaria, C., Violi, P. (2023), eds., Reading Memory Sites through Signs. Hiding into Landscape, Amsterdam.
Dignas, B. Smith R. R. R. (2012), eds., Historical and Religious Memory in the Ancient World, Oxford.
Gehrke, H.-J. (2023), The Greeks and Their Histories: Myth, History, and Society, Cambridge.
Halbwachs, M. (1950), La mémoire collective, Paris.
König, J., A. Oikonomopoulou, G. Woolf, (2013) eds., Ancient Libraries, Cambridge.
Ma, J. (2009), “City as Memory”, in G. Boy-Stones et al., eds., Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies, Oxford, pp. 248-259.
Petrovic, A., I. Petrovic, E. Thomas (2019), eds., The Materiality of Text: Placement, Perception, and Presence of Inscribed Texts in Classical Antiquity, Leiden – Boston.
Pitts, M., M. J. Versluys, (2021), “Objectscapes: A Manifesto for Investigating the Impacts of Object Flows on Past Societies”, Antiquity 95 (380), pp. 367-381.
Proietti, G. (2021), Prima di Erodoto: Aspetti della memoria delle Guerre Persiane, Stuttgart.
Proietti, G., McInerney, J. (2025), eds., Memory, Space and Mindscapes in Ancient Greece, Leiden.
Remijsen, S. Williamson, Ch. G. (forthcoming), eds., Religious Temporalities and the Greco-Roman City.
Rüpke, J. (2006), Zeit und Fest. Eine Kulturgeschichte des Kalenders, München.
Rüpke, J. (2020), “Introduction: Urban Religion in a Historical Perspective”, in Rüpke, J., ed., A Historical Approach to Urban Growth and Religious Change, Berlin – Boston, pp. 1-15.
Steinbock, B. (2013), Social Memory in Athenian Public Discourse. Uses and Meanings of the Past, Ann Arbor.
Sun, A. Rüpke, J. (2023), “Urban Temporalities”, Archiv für Religionsgeschichte 25, pp. 243-334.
Walter, A. (2024), ed., The Temporality of Festivals, Berlin.
Williamson, Ch. G. (2021), Urban Rituals in Sacred Landscapes in Hellenistic Asia Minor, Leiden. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004461277.
Zerubavel, E. (2004), Time Maps: Collective Memory and the Social Shape of the Past, Chicago.
Moduli
| Modulo | Ore | CFU | Docenti |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modulo 1: Il santuario dome luogo di memoria (per ordinari) | 20 | 3 | Corinne Bonnet |
| Modulo 2: Il santuario come luogo di memoria (per ordinari e PhD) | 20 | 3 | Corinne Bonnet |
| Supplementary teaching | 12 | 0 | Corinne Bonnet, Giuseppina Marano |