Derek
Krueger, Liturgical Subjects: Christian Ritual, Biblical Narrative, and the Formation of the Self in Byzantium, Univ. of Pensylvania Press 2014
Liturgical Subjects
examines the history of the self in the Byzantine Empire, challenging
narratives of Christian subjectivity that focus only on classical antiquity and
the Western Middle Ages. As Derek Krueger demonstrates, Orthodox Christian
interior life was profoundly shaped by patterns of worship introduced and
disseminated by Byzantine clergy. Hymns, prayers, and sermons transmitted
complex emotional responses to biblical stories, particularly during Lent.
Religious services and religious art taught congregants who they were in
relation to God and each other.
Focusing on Christian practice in
Constantinople from the sixth to eleventh centuries, Krueger charts the impact
of the liturgical calendar, the eucharistic rite, hymns for vigils and
festivals, and scenes from the life of Christ on the making of Christian
selves. He explores the verse of great Byzantine liturgical poets, including
Romanos the Melodist, Andrew of Crete, Theodore the Stoudite, and Symeon the
New Theologian. Their compositions offered templates for Christian self-regard
and self-criticism, defining the Christian "I." Cantors, choirs, and
congregations sang in the first person singular expressing guilt and
repentence, while prayers and sermons defined the collective identity of the
Christian community as sinners in need of salvation. By examining the way
models of selfhood were formed, performed, and transmitted in the Byzantine
Empire, Liturgical Subjects adds a vital dimension to the history of the
self in Western culture.
