Michail Kitsos - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Dissertation by Michail Kitsos
This dissertation considers Adversus Iudaeos dialogues and rabbinic multivocal narratives side by... more This dissertation considers Adversus Iudaeos dialogues and rabbinic multivocal narratives side by side and investigates how and why the anonymous authors of these texts deployed “other” characters and “other” narratives, constructing around them a plot of realistically portrayed encounters. Scholars of late antique Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism have examined separately these works that portray two or more interlocutors discussing with each other on topics that concerned their authors. Their scholarship has interpreted the function of these compositions, seeing them as ways of providing self-definition or opinion making (in the case of Adversus Iudaeos dialogues), or as demonstrating internalization of and anxiety over others’ criticisms, or as parodies (in the case of selected rabbinic multivocal narratives). These two kinds of texts, however, have not often been studied in tandem, nor has the purposeful deployment of “other” interlocutors or “other” narratives in them.
Specifically, this study examines the reasons for the deployment of contrasting characters and narratives in texts where interlocutors discuss topics of belief and practice with each other. From the corpus of the Christian Adversus Iudaeos dialogues, this study analyzes excerpts written in Greek, Syriac, and Latin between the early fifth to the tenth centuries CE; from the corpus of rabbinic literature, it analyzes multivocal narratives from works written in Mishnaic Hebrew and Babylonian Aramaic between the early third and the early eighth centuries CE. The topics in the excerpts from both corpora are conceptually similar, pertaining to icons, idols, and idolatry (Chapters 2 and 3) and the divinity of Jesus, his virgin birth, and his origins (Chapters 4 and 5).
The analysis draws on the literary concept of foil which allows one to interpret by means of contrast the qualities of characters and stories. This study argues that the anonymous Christian and rabbinic authors deployed the “other” (whether a character or a narrative) as a foil to another character or narrative, respectively, to claim legitimacy of opinion on matters of practice and belief. By weaving contrasting opinions between discussants and between narratives in the context of dialogues, these texts propose an authoritative stance towards the interlocutors’ opinions and attitudes, predisposing what the correct or legitimate view, attitude, or teaching is according to them. Comprehending the role of foil characters and foil narratives in the Adversus Iudaeos dialogues and rabbinic multivocal narratives allows us to understand how “others” were an integral component in the rhetoric used by the authors of these works.
Books by Michail Kitsos
This book explores the history of the seven-branched candelabrum from its original conception and... more This book explores the history of the seven-branched candelabrum from its original conception and representation in the form of the tree of life in the ancient Near East and its transformation to a candelabrum in biblical Israel to its reception in rabbinic Judaism and its making to the Jewish object par-excellence. Through an examination of biblical, second-Temple period, and rabbinic sources, this book underlines the Jewish identity of the menorah as a traveling concept that surpassed even its importance as a ritual object.
Publications by Michail Kitsos
Das Mittelalter, 2022
Late Antiquity was replete with intense religious antagonisms and disputes. Intra-Christian debat... more Late Antiquity was replete with intense religious antagonisms and disputes. Intra-Christian debates were part of this environment, and the Church's Ecumenical Councils were based on such religious meetings. Although we know much about debates between Christian groups, we know less about debates between late antique Jews and Christians. However, in the Christian literature, the Adversus or Contra Iudaeos dialogues, a large corpus of dialectical texts against the Jews, portray imaginary discussions between Christians and Jews. This article considers narratology as a methodological framework to read Adversus Iudaeos dialogues. By investigating elements of temporality in an example text, the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban the Jew', I analyse three categories of time: duration, order, and frequency. I explain how time creates an effect of realism, which was conducive for the dialogue author to construct an effective rhetorical space that allowed him to give the impression that such debates between a Christian and a Jew were once organised, recorded, and composed as memories of real events, thus propagandising (through their composition) for the correctness of his theological beliefs as outlined in the dialogue. Zusammenfassung Die Spätantike ist geprägt von intensiven religiösen Antagonismen und Auseinandersetzungen. Innerchristliche Streitgespräche waren ein Teil dieser Kultur, und auch die ökumenischen Konzile der Epoche bauten auf solchen Debatten auf. Über Streitgespräche zwischen Christen und Juden wissen wir hingegen verhältnismäßig wenig. Mit den Adversus Iudaeos-Dialogen gibt es allerdings ein breites Textkorpus, im Grunde ein
Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually, 2014
Book Reviews by Michail Kitsos
Religious Studies Review, 2022
The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particul... more The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particular use to scholars and graduate students.
Religious Studies Review, 2023
render them more approachable to readers-it is almost impossible to distinguish between them in t... more render them more approachable to readers-it is almost impossible to distinguish between them in terms of importance as they all constitute illustrative examples of the various avenues in the study of rabbinic narratives. Notwithstanding, the Introduction deserves special mention: not only does it summarize eloquently modern research on rabbinic narratives, but it also provides representative works per category. The merit of this volume is undeniable. here we have a work which, as a whole, comprises a methodological handbook, broadly conceived-although it is not constructed as such on the surface-and whose chapters are paradigmatic of the different research avenues in the study of rabbinic narratives. Taking a cue from this volume's title, my fervent hope is that Volume Two is in Rubinstein's plans.
Religious Studies Review, 2023
The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particul... more The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particular use to scholars and graduate students.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2022
Theodore the Stoudite was one of the most influential Byzantine authors and ecclesiastical author... more Theodore the Stoudite was one of the most influential Byzantine authors and ecclesiastical authorities, playing a prominent role in the defense of icons during the second period of the iconoclastic controversy (early ninth century). The present publication from the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series translates for the first time into English three medieval Greek texts-the Life of Theodore of Stoudios by Michael the Monk, the Encyclical Letter of Naukratios, and the Translation and Burial of the Remains of Theodore of Stoudios and Joseph of Thessalonike-which, notwithstanding their different authorship, compositional date, and purposes, revolve around the life, contests, death, burial, and reburial of this ecclesiastical authority. The texts are given in the original with a facing English translation and are accompanied by an Introduction, Abbreviations, Note on the Texts, Notes to the Texts, Notes to the Translations, a Bibliography, and an Index.
Religious Studies Review, 2022
This book traces the installation and subsequent failure of the transAtlantic telegraph in 1858 a... more This book traces the installation and subsequent failure of the transAtlantic telegraph in 1858 and explores how this event adopted Christian significance. Across four chapters, the author unpacks the ways in which the Atlantic telegraph was mobilized by a specific Protestant imaginary, one that positioned it as "(1) a new spectacular technology that will create (2) national and global unity, (3) a utopian present, and (4) perfect communication" (29). By situating the transAtlantic cable as a historical "anchor" (29) around which these discursive conditions first crystalized, the book's central contention (and primary contribution) is that "The link between networks and connection is not a natural affiliation but one way of making networks meaningful" (32) within a particular Protestant world view. By calling attention to the conceptualization of "disconnection" as failure or "scandal" despite its importance to the functionality of networks, the author suggests that modern conceptualizations of networks as "ubiquitous global connection" (205) are conceptually skewed by an arbitrary fixation with "connection" that has roots in the evangelizing mission of Protestantism. In this reviewer's opinion, more work could have been done to make this argument clearer earlier on, particularly as the book seems to be directed at a broader audience beyond those with training in media studies. That being said, this book is likely to leave readers convinced thanks to a well-weaved multidirectional analysis of various sources: historical, textual, visual, and otherwise. The analysis of disconnection offers the text a point of entry into media-studies debates that problematize "connections" as analytic objects. It is also relevant to debates in religious and American studies as to the role of teleological Christian epistemological frameworks in US cultural logics. By highlighting the discursive "resonance" of a protestant imaginary in the wake of the transAtlantic cable, this thoughtful book asks the reader to reconsider their understanding of "connection" and to contemplate "What hath God wrought" (1) in the modern information age.
Religious Studies Review, 2022
Religious Studies Review, 2022
adaptability, the timelessness, and the durability of a text that constituted, in writing, one of... more adaptability, the timelessness, and the durability of a text that constituted, in writing, one of the few highly polemical Jewish voices that responded to centuries-long Christian anti-Jewish attacks. Notwithstanding the volume's significance, for one to fully appreciate its contribution, one needs to be familiar with the content of Toledot Yeshu , and the aforementioned publications can provide that foundation. In sum, Barbu and Deutsch's volume offers a unique look at the study of Jewish anti-Christian polemics through the lens of Toledot Yeshu , allowing its readers to understand the operation of a polemical Jewish text in various contexts and times. The editors have provided students and scholars of Jewish-Christian relations an exceptional resource on the topic.
The Medieval Review, 2021
This volume compiles seven hagiographies of less-well known male saints in Greece from the ninth ... more This volume compiles seven hagiographies of less-well known male saints in Greece from the ninth and the tenth centuries CE, and prints the Greek texts with facing English translations. The volume also includes an Introduction, Abbreviations, a Note on the Texts, Notes to the Texts, Notes to the Translations, a Bibliography, and an Index of names, places, and selective subjects. This work falls under the overall publishing purpose of the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library which aims to offer "the classics of the medieval canon as well as lesser-known gems of literary and cultural value to a global audience through accessible modern translations based on the latest research by leading scholars in the field." The present volume achieves more than satisfactorily the standards set by the series in terms of the selection of the translated texts, the quality of the translations,
Religious Studies Review, 2021
full chapter devoted to Irenaeus and Origen, while valuable and helpful to the development of Chr... more full chapter devoted to Irenaeus and Origen, while valuable and helpful to the development of Christology, when only six pages cover Cyril of Alexandria and essentially includes only a close reading of his Second and Third Letter to Nestorius? Why focus on early Christology when the thrust of the introduction inquires about the usefulness and reception of Chalcedon? This book certainly is a helpful study as Daley, a notable Patristics scholar, reflects on the complexities of Patristic Christology.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019
Conference Presentations by Michail Kitsos
"Demons Good and Bad" International Conference; Trinity College, Dublin, 2022
24th International Conference of Byzantine Studies, 2022
57th International Congress on Medieval Studies, 2022
97th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, 2022
The Virgin Beyond Borders International Conference, 2022
This dissertation considers Adversus Iudaeos dialogues and rabbinic multivocal narratives side by... more This dissertation considers Adversus Iudaeos dialogues and rabbinic multivocal narratives side by side and investigates how and why the anonymous authors of these texts deployed “other” characters and “other” narratives, constructing around them a plot of realistically portrayed encounters. Scholars of late antique Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism have examined separately these works that portray two or more interlocutors discussing with each other on topics that concerned their authors. Their scholarship has interpreted the function of these compositions, seeing them as ways of providing self-definition or opinion making (in the case of Adversus Iudaeos dialogues), or as demonstrating internalization of and anxiety over others’ criticisms, or as parodies (in the case of selected rabbinic multivocal narratives). These two kinds of texts, however, have not often been studied in tandem, nor has the purposeful deployment of “other” interlocutors or “other” narratives in them.
Specifically, this study examines the reasons for the deployment of contrasting characters and narratives in texts where interlocutors discuss topics of belief and practice with each other. From the corpus of the Christian Adversus Iudaeos dialogues, this study analyzes excerpts written in Greek, Syriac, and Latin between the early fifth to the tenth centuries CE; from the corpus of rabbinic literature, it analyzes multivocal narratives from works written in Mishnaic Hebrew and Babylonian Aramaic between the early third and the early eighth centuries CE. The topics in the excerpts from both corpora are conceptually similar, pertaining to icons, idols, and idolatry (Chapters 2 and 3) and the divinity of Jesus, his virgin birth, and his origins (Chapters 4 and 5).
The analysis draws on the literary concept of foil which allows one to interpret by means of contrast the qualities of characters and stories. This study argues that the anonymous Christian and rabbinic authors deployed the “other” (whether a character or a narrative) as a foil to another character or narrative, respectively, to claim legitimacy of opinion on matters of practice and belief. By weaving contrasting opinions between discussants and between narratives in the context of dialogues, these texts propose an authoritative stance towards the interlocutors’ opinions and attitudes, predisposing what the correct or legitimate view, attitude, or teaching is according to them. Comprehending the role of foil characters and foil narratives in the Adversus Iudaeos dialogues and rabbinic multivocal narratives allows us to understand how “others” were an integral component in the rhetoric used by the authors of these works.
This book explores the history of the seven-branched candelabrum from its original conception and... more This book explores the history of the seven-branched candelabrum from its original conception and representation in the form of the tree of life in the ancient Near East and its transformation to a candelabrum in biblical Israel to its reception in rabbinic Judaism and its making to the Jewish object par-excellence. Through an examination of biblical, second-Temple period, and rabbinic sources, this book underlines the Jewish identity of the menorah as a traveling concept that surpassed even its importance as a ritual object.
Das Mittelalter, 2022
Late Antiquity was replete with intense religious antagonisms and disputes. Intra-Christian debat... more Late Antiquity was replete with intense religious antagonisms and disputes. Intra-Christian debates were part of this environment, and the Church's Ecumenical Councils were based on such religious meetings. Although we know much about debates between Christian groups, we know less about debates between late antique Jews and Christians. However, in the Christian literature, the Adversus or Contra Iudaeos dialogues, a large corpus of dialectical texts against the Jews, portray imaginary discussions between Christians and Jews. This article considers narratology as a methodological framework to read Adversus Iudaeos dialogues. By investigating elements of temporality in an example text, the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban the Jew', I analyse three categories of time: duration, order, and frequency. I explain how time creates an effect of realism, which was conducive for the dialogue author to construct an effective rhetorical space that allowed him to give the impression that such debates between a Christian and a Jew were once organised, recorded, and composed as memories of real events, thus propagandising (through their composition) for the correctness of his theological beliefs as outlined in the dialogue. Zusammenfassung Die Spätantike ist geprägt von intensiven religiösen Antagonismen und Auseinandersetzungen. Innerchristliche Streitgespräche waren ein Teil dieser Kultur, und auch die ökumenischen Konzile der Epoche bauten auf solchen Debatten auf. Über Streitgespräche zwischen Christen und Juden wissen wir hingegen verhältnismäßig wenig. Mit den Adversus Iudaeos-Dialogen gibt es allerdings ein breites Textkorpus, im Grunde ein
Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually, 2014
Religious Studies Review, 2022
The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particul... more The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particular use to scholars and graduate students.
Religious Studies Review, 2023
render them more approachable to readers-it is almost impossible to distinguish between them in t... more render them more approachable to readers-it is almost impossible to distinguish between them in terms of importance as they all constitute illustrative examples of the various avenues in the study of rabbinic narratives. Notwithstanding, the Introduction deserves special mention: not only does it summarize eloquently modern research on rabbinic narratives, but it also provides representative works per category. The merit of this volume is undeniable. here we have a work which, as a whole, comprises a methodological handbook, broadly conceived-although it is not constructed as such on the surface-and whose chapters are paradigmatic of the different research avenues in the study of rabbinic narratives. Taking a cue from this volume's title, my fervent hope is that Volume Two is in Rubinstein's plans.
Religious Studies Review, 2023
The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particul... more The essays revisit longstanding questions and explore new avenues. The volume will be of particular use to scholars and graduate students.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2022
Theodore the Stoudite was one of the most influential Byzantine authors and ecclesiastical author... more Theodore the Stoudite was one of the most influential Byzantine authors and ecclesiastical authorities, playing a prominent role in the defense of icons during the second period of the iconoclastic controversy (early ninth century). The present publication from the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series translates for the first time into English three medieval Greek texts-the Life of Theodore of Stoudios by Michael the Monk, the Encyclical Letter of Naukratios, and the Translation and Burial of the Remains of Theodore of Stoudios and Joseph of Thessalonike-which, notwithstanding their different authorship, compositional date, and purposes, revolve around the life, contests, death, burial, and reburial of this ecclesiastical authority. The texts are given in the original with a facing English translation and are accompanied by an Introduction, Abbreviations, Note on the Texts, Notes to the Texts, Notes to the Translations, a Bibliography, and an Index.
Religious Studies Review, 2022
This book traces the installation and subsequent failure of the transAtlantic telegraph in 1858 a... more This book traces the installation and subsequent failure of the transAtlantic telegraph in 1858 and explores how this event adopted Christian significance. Across four chapters, the author unpacks the ways in which the Atlantic telegraph was mobilized by a specific Protestant imaginary, one that positioned it as "(1) a new spectacular technology that will create (2) national and global unity, (3) a utopian present, and (4) perfect communication" (29). By situating the transAtlantic cable as a historical "anchor" (29) around which these discursive conditions first crystalized, the book's central contention (and primary contribution) is that "The link between networks and connection is not a natural affiliation but one way of making networks meaningful" (32) within a particular Protestant world view. By calling attention to the conceptualization of "disconnection" as failure or "scandal" despite its importance to the functionality of networks, the author suggests that modern conceptualizations of networks as "ubiquitous global connection" (205) are conceptually skewed by an arbitrary fixation with "connection" that has roots in the evangelizing mission of Protestantism. In this reviewer's opinion, more work could have been done to make this argument clearer earlier on, particularly as the book seems to be directed at a broader audience beyond those with training in media studies. That being said, this book is likely to leave readers convinced thanks to a well-weaved multidirectional analysis of various sources: historical, textual, visual, and otherwise. The analysis of disconnection offers the text a point of entry into media-studies debates that problematize "connections" as analytic objects. It is also relevant to debates in religious and American studies as to the role of teleological Christian epistemological frameworks in US cultural logics. By highlighting the discursive "resonance" of a protestant imaginary in the wake of the transAtlantic cable, this thoughtful book asks the reader to reconsider their understanding of "connection" and to contemplate "What hath God wrought" (1) in the modern information age.
Religious Studies Review, 2022
Religious Studies Review, 2022
adaptability, the timelessness, and the durability of a text that constituted, in writing, one of... more adaptability, the timelessness, and the durability of a text that constituted, in writing, one of the few highly polemical Jewish voices that responded to centuries-long Christian anti-Jewish attacks. Notwithstanding the volume's significance, for one to fully appreciate its contribution, one needs to be familiar with the content of Toledot Yeshu , and the aforementioned publications can provide that foundation. In sum, Barbu and Deutsch's volume offers a unique look at the study of Jewish anti-Christian polemics through the lens of Toledot Yeshu , allowing its readers to understand the operation of a polemical Jewish text in various contexts and times. The editors have provided students and scholars of Jewish-Christian relations an exceptional resource on the topic.
The Medieval Review, 2021
This volume compiles seven hagiographies of less-well known male saints in Greece from the ninth ... more This volume compiles seven hagiographies of less-well known male saints in Greece from the ninth and the tenth centuries CE, and prints the Greek texts with facing English translations. The volume also includes an Introduction, Abbreviations, a Note on the Texts, Notes to the Texts, Notes to the Translations, a Bibliography, and an Index of names, places, and selective subjects. This work falls under the overall publishing purpose of the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library which aims to offer "the classics of the medieval canon as well as lesser-known gems of literary and cultural value to a global audience through accessible modern translations based on the latest research by leading scholars in the field." The present volume achieves more than satisfactorily the standards set by the series in terms of the selection of the translated texts, the quality of the translations,
Religious Studies Review, 2021
full chapter devoted to Irenaeus and Origen, while valuable and helpful to the development of Chr... more full chapter devoted to Irenaeus and Origen, while valuable and helpful to the development of Christology, when only six pages cover Cyril of Alexandria and essentially includes only a close reading of his Second and Third Letter to Nestorius? Why focus on early Christology when the thrust of the introduction inquires about the usefulness and reception of Chalcedon? This book certainly is a helpful study as Daley, a notable Patristics scholar, reflects on the complexities of Patristic Christology.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019
"Demons Good and Bad" International Conference; Trinity College, Dublin, 2022
24th International Conference of Byzantine Studies, 2022
57th International Congress on Medieval Studies, 2022
97th Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, 2022
The Virgin Beyond Borders International Conference, 2022
Association for Jewish Studies, 2021
Motherhood and Breastfeeding in Antiquity and Byzantium International Conference, 2021
56th International Congress on Medieval Studies, 2021
North American Patristics Society, 2021
Association of Jewish Studies, 2020
American Society for Church History Conference, New York, 2020
Narratology for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Innsbruck, Austria, 2019
58th Midwest Medieval History Conference, University of Notre Dame, 2019
Medieval Lunch Series, Medieval and Early Modern Studies, University of Michigan, 2017
International Medieval Congress, Leeds, UK, 2017
North American Patristics Society, Chicago, IL, 2017
North American Patristics Society, Chicago, IL, 2016
Near Eastern Studies Graduate Colloquium, University of Michigan, 2015
Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, University of Michigan, 2015