The Poetics of Subversion. Irony in Byzantium

Compared to neighbouring disciplines such as medieval studies and classical philology, Byzantine studies have only recently directed special attention to the playful sides of the culture they explore. Particularly in the field of Byzantine literature, researchers became more aware of texts that aim primarily at the amusement of their readers, such as satirical and parodistic texts. However, a certain playful mood can make itself felt also in domains normally considered to be "serious". Humorous or even playful, subversive elements are found, more or less explicitly, within "serious" literary genres such as historiography. The authors of such texts often use special stylistic devices that undermine and subvert their superficial message, such as satire, parody and irony. These effects may also serve to fulfill further purposes, as for instance the concealed expression of criticism. A systematic analysis of the poetics of subversion in Byzantine literature can offer insight into the literary nature of the texts themselves, as well as into their social and cultural background. Such a systematic survey has not yet been conducted. In view of the current state of research, the best strategy for an investigation of the poetics of subversion in Byzantine literature appears to be the analysis of individual subversive devices in selected case studies of representative authors and texts. Since until now theoretical reflections have been undertaken only in the preliminary papers of Jakov Ljubarskij on irony, it seems reasonable to begin the survey of the Byzantine poetics of subversion with the analysis of this phenomenon. We can find Byzantine authors not only using the ancient Greek word eironeia (and its derivatives), but also employing the literary effect of irony as it is understood by modern literary theory. Still, the Byzantines themselves did not develop any theory on this phenomenon. Contrary to Ljubarskij`s opinion, it appears legitimate to use the modern literary term "irony" to describe and analyse these literary manifestations and their functions in Byzantine texts. In this manner, Byzantine literature and its cultural background can be made accessible and understandable to the modern reader. In the proposed project, the study of irony in Byzantium will be based on the works of prominent writers of the 11th and 12th centuries. On this basis, it will be possible to develop a theory of the intellectual background and the ethics of irony as a stylistic device in Byzantine literature. In addition, the relationship of irony with other subversive effects such as parody and satire as well as the broader notion of humour will be illuminated.

The systematic analysis of subversive elements such as the rhetorical device of irony in Byzantine literary writings has offered insight into the literaricity of the texts themselves, as well as into their social and cultural background. We have found Byzantine authors not only using the ancient Greek word eironeia (and its derivatives) but also employing the discursive mode of irony as it is understood by modern literary theory. Although the Byzantines themselves did not develop any theory on irony of their own, it has proven legitimate and fruitful to use the theoretical framework developed by modern literary criticism in order to describe and analyse ironic discourse and its special effects in Byzantine literary texts. This kind of textual analysis has contributed in making Byzantine literary practices and their cultural background more accessible and understandable to the modern reader. A profound investigation of the original semantics of eironterms on the basis of abundant source material from Antiquity to Byzantium has shown that virtually all the different Byzantine meanings of eironterms can be in effect traced back to corresponding Ancient Greek ones. The vast majority of Byzantine uses of eiron-words refers to eironeia as a rhetorical device, i.e. the use of words to denote something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning with the aim to express a specific feeling or attitude, which is in most cases either scorn and derision (skomma), or bitterness (barytes). Furthermore, for the precise reason that the rhetorical device named eironeia is in many cases deployed to express mockery, derision, scornful sarcasm, or, less agressively, jest and wit, eiron- words are very often used by Byzantine writers interchangeably with such notions. After having established the specific meanings of eironterms used in relevant Byzantine sources, the next step was to investigate the manifestations and special effects of ironic discourse on the basis of case studies of representative Byzantine texts. More specifically, the satirical portrayal of Emperor Konstantinos IX Monomachos in the sixth book of Michael Pselloss 11th century Chronography has been analysed against the background of the theoretical framework developed by Hayden White concerning the ironic mode as an element of narrativity and fictionality (and thus of literaricity) in the genre of historiography in general. By means of a thoroughly ironic narrative (textually as well as intertextually marked), the polymath and statesman Michael Psellos, Emperor Monomachoss earlier protégé and official panegyrist, sets out to depict him posthumously as a ruler who could in no way live up to the demands of his office. Not surprisingly, the outcome of this literary project is a subtly satirical (at times scornful) portrayal of the late emperor. Finally, in a further (shorter) case study, the issue of irony in a rhetorical work by Michael Psellos, his encomium on the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Keroularios, has been investigated. In this case, the author finds himself forced by circumstances to address a posthumous panegyric to an earlier political opponent and personal enemy of his and, thus, resorts to the deployment of irony in order to express his bitterness against him and sublty deconstruct him.