BMCR 2009.05.17: Fournier on Pouderon, Histoire de la litterature grecque chretienne, 1. Introduction. Initiations aux Peres de l'Eglise

Bernard Pouderon, Enrico Norelli (ed.), Histoire de la litte/rature
grecque chre/tienne, 1. Introduction. Initiations aux Pe\res de
l'E/glise.  Paris:  Cerf, 2008.  Pp. 333.  ISBN 9782204082280.  EUR 32.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Eric Fournier, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
([email protected])
Word count:  2544 words
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[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

The volume under review is the first of a planned six-volume series
that will cover Greek Christian literature from the writings of Paul to
the council of Chalcedon (451 CE). This first volume is, in the words
of the editors (8), a methodological introduction to the series. The
following volumes are planned to be divided chronologically (2: Paul to
Irenaeus; 3: Clement of Alexandria to Eusebius of Caesarea), and
further divided geographically for what the editors consider the
"golden age" of the patristic period (4: Alexandria-Egypt; 5: Asia
Minor-Constantinople; 6: Syria-Antioch). The explicit purpose of the
collection is to replace Quaesten's Patrology[[1]] for a
French-speaking audience, described as "aussi large que possible" (8).
This introductory volume presents seven narrative contributions from
different scholars of an international team, in addition to a very
brief preface (7-9), and a bibliographical section on research tools
relevant to the topic at hands. In what follows, I will describe each
chapter as briefly as possible, before making general comments about
the book as a whole, including specific examples from different
chapters.

Norelli's contribution ("Histoire de la litte/rature et histoire des
institutions chre/tiennes. Quelques conside/rations de me/thode au
seuil d'une histoire de la litte/rature grecque chre/tienne ancienne")
is a solid methodological introduction to the overall topic covered in
this work. As co-editor of the similar Storia della letteratura
cristiana antica,[[2]] Norelli is on familiar ground. Starting from the
observation that there is no unified concept of "ancient Christian
literature" (9), the author discusses what each central concept of the
topic at hand implies, starting with the absence of a distinction
between written and oral forms of communication (11-18). Examination of
the notion of "literature" itself leads to a historiographical review
of past approaches, notably the tendency of older German scholarship to
start the study of Christian literature with the apologetic movement of
the second century because its authors adopted an acknowledged genre
(23). By contrast, Norelli wants to be open to a wider array of written
forms (25), not limited to "high" literature (27). The author then
reviews the debate on whether or not a history of Christian literature
should include heretics, a question that clearly indicates that this
work is written from the point of view of orthodox (i.e. Nicene)
Christianity (32-34). For Norelli, the criteria for inclusion ought to
be self-ascription, and reference to Jesus and his teachings (35). In
regard to genres and forms of writing, he insists that the synthesis of
existing forms into original works is most important. This leads to a
discussion of the evolution of literary genres which, Norelli argues,
paralleled the development of institutions and power relations (47).
This is by far the most interesting and thought-provoking section of
the chapter. Norelli asserts the normative function of early Christian
literature, against which later writings presented themselves as
explanations, commentaries, and actualization. As this canon
established itself, so did the institutions c. 200-350, and both
processes were linked in the formation of Christian "orthodoxy" (50).
The remaining part of the chapter presents an apology for the writing
of a specifically Greek Christian literary history, which seems
unnecessary (51-54), and brief comments about the self-referential
nature of Christian writings (55-59), the notion of authorship (59-64),
and the chronological limits of the period (64-66).

Siniscalco's contribution ("De l'Histoire eccle/siastique a\ l'Histoire
de la litte/rature grecque chre/tienne : une tradition mille/naire")
presents a history of the sort of project reviewed here. In this
attempt to review twenty centuries of ecclesiastical history, only the
main names are reviewed (67), including the usual suspects: Eusebius,
Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, Evagrius, etc. But the author never
presents his selection criteria, which leads to the inclusion of
Photius, the Suda, along with sixteenth century humanists and later
patrologies.

The following chapter by Gounelle ("La transmission des e/crits
litte/raires chre/tiens") covers the transmission of Christian texts.
The author starts with the obvious discussion of lost texts and the
main causes of these losses: ideological (heretics, for example), and
material (palimpsests, codex, manuscripts, rodents, and disasters).
Among the texts that survived, Gounelle focuses on direct traditions,
translations (Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Coptic, Arabic, Ethiopian,
Old Church Slavonic), and mediations (the role of Koine Greek,
florilegia, encyclopaedias, epitomes). Among some of the fascinating
details included in this contribution, the reader will find (124, n. 2)
interesting data on the cost of manuscripts compared to the salary of a
government official in the ninth century. While this might be obvious
material to the specialist, the wider public and younger researchers
are likely to learn a great deal from this stimulating chapter.
Gounelle presents a concise and very clear overview of the transmission
process of ancient texts. The examples are varied, well chosen and
include less well known authors and texts. The references cite the most
recent editions, and the chapter includes a good bibliography
(132-138).

Dorival ("Les formes et mode\les litte/raires") proceeds from an
interesting question: how original and how dependent on older forms
were early Christian writings? Dorival starts with Werner Jaeger's
Early Christianity and Greek Paideia (London, 1961), in which he argued
that the oldest Christian works depended on existing Hellenic
traditions, with the exception of Jesus' sayings and the Gospels (139).
For the author, Jaeger's thesis focused so much on the parallels
between Christian literature and Hellenic thought and writing forms
that it neglected the importance of Hebrew and Judeo-Hellenistic
literature as another major influence on Christian authors (140). To
give but one example, Dorival points out the importance of the
Septuagint as antecedent to the New Testament and martyrological
literature, rather than the 'Acts of the pagan martyrs' (141). While
this is the chapter's main theme, it is somewhat ironic that Dorival
devotes the rest of his text mainly to showing the importance of
earlier Greek literature on Christian authors, thereby supporting
Jaeger's thesis. What follows is a very thorough review of the
different genres of Christian writings discussing the origins of both
the genres and the influence of earlier models. Although this will
undoubtedly be helpful to readers looking for the antecedents of a
specific genre of writing or with a specific author in mind, Dorival's
chapter quickly becomes a mere (and long) list of writing forms. That
being said, looking at familiar sources from a different perspective
typically brings a fresh view, and his discussion of ecclesiastical
histories is a case in point. For Dorival, Eusebius and his followers
followed their Greco-Roman historiographical models by describing wars
as the main events of their narrative. The main difference was that
they conceived of Christians as a new people (genos), and their wars
took the form of persecutions and heresies (173-4).

Vannier's chapter ("L'e/volution dogmatique et son expression") focuses
on the theological aspect of early Christian writings up to John
Damascene (an oddity since the chronological limits of the collection
is Chalcedon). This is a good overview of the main authors, well
supported by adequate references to the original texts (albeit heavily
favoring French editions and translations, Sources Chre/tiennes in
particular).

Calvet-Sebasti ("L'esthe/tique") analyzes the literary aspects of early
Christian writings by focusing on aesthetics. This preoccupation with
literary forms, rhetoric, and composition, as the author aptly points
out, is not without contradictions, as Christians authors often
professed simplicity, rusticity, and even ignorance (221). The novelty
of Christian literature emerges out of this apparent paradox,
Calvet-Sebasti argues, because Christian authors fought ancient
traditions yet followed them in many ways (226).

The last narrative chapter of the volume, by Wallraff ("Les e/ditions
des textes patristiques"), is divided in two main parts. The first
surveys the main editors of early Greek Christian texts until the 19th
century, while the second looks at the large-scale editing projects of
patristic texts of the 19th and 20th centuries. Not only is it a great
read, it is also informative, and supported by an excellent and recent
bibliography not limited to French scholarship. Wallraff thus presents
the works of the Benedictine monks of St.Maur (244), Jean Mabillon
(245), Bernard de Montfaucon (245-6), and especially Jacques-Paul Migne
(246-249) among the pioneers of Greek patristic editions. Readers will
most likely be more familiar with the large collections presented next,
such as the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL; 250),
the work of Theodor Mommsen, Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller
(GCS; 252-257), Sources Chre/tiennes (258-261), and finally Corpus
Christianorum (261-264), including the  Clavis Patrum Latinorum. The
last two pages even include a discussion of the transformation brought
by the accessibility of early Christian sources in translation through
the web (265-266), now a necessary update.

Finally, Gain presents an annotated bibliography of the main early
Christian research tools ("Instruments de travail pour l'e/tude de la
litte/rature grecque chre/tienne ancienne"). Following the model of
classics like Poucet-Hannick's Aux Sources de l'antiquite/
gre/co-romaine, almost exclusively devoted to pre-Christian texts and
topics, Gain surveys the "incontournables" of early Christian
scholarship in eight different categories: Dictionaries and
encyclopedias, repertories of texts, collections of texts, the Fathers
and the Bible, the Fathers and liturgy, History and auxiliary sciences,
Journals and bibliographies, and Computerized tools. A list of
abbreviations for collections and journals, as well as a short list of
good patristic libraries in French-speaking countries follow. This is
an immensely useful research guide, and most readers are likely to
learn from Gain's list.

As is often the case with collections of essays, it is of uneven
quality and interest. But the main weakness of the volume is its lack
of unity and overall direction. The absence of an introduction is most
likely the cause of this problem. Bernard Pouderon's two-page
"avant-propos" describes the overall project and Norelli's contribution
introduces the topic at hand, but without any presentation of the
diverse contributions of this volume. Most contributions jump right
into a discussion of their topic, which may explain why the present
reader was often left wondering what the purpose of each chapter was,
how they related to each other, and what the collective significance of
the work might be. Pouderon writes in the preface that one of the main
goals of the collection is to make "erudition" accessible to a wide
audience (8). This emphasis on erudition is certainly felt throughout
the text, but sadly not always to good effect. The chapters by
Siniscalco and Dorival, in particular, resemble a catalogue of authors
and titles in narrative form. The combined result is a very traditional
approach to the topic, perhaps unsurprising given the publisher.
Scholars looking for a survey of the way Late Antiquity as a field has
changed the traditional approach of Church history will be
disappointed. Additionally, ignoring the most recent developments of
scholarship in this increasingly wider field of study will not be
helpful to young researchers, one of the targeted audiences for this
collection.

A case in point is Dorival's claim that Eusebius' Vita Constantini was
such a contradictory project (to present the emperor as a saint) that
it should be considered a failure (177). Although not directly
acknowledged, this seems to follow Momigliano's argument of 1963
(mentioned in the bibliography that follows Dorival's chapter). This is
problematic because so much has appeared since then on Eusebius' VC,
and especially the works of Barnes, Cameron, and Drake, to name only a
few.[[3]] Another example is Vannier's discussion of the 'homoousios'
formula adopted at Nicaea, which is extremely short (196-197) and
puzzling at best. She writes that we do not know why the term was
adopted at Nicaea and are reduced to guesswork from the writings of
Athanasius of Alexandria, referring to Stead's 1974 article.[[4]] Such
a crucial topic for early Christian studies demands fuller treatment,
incorporating important scholarship on the question.[[5]] At the most
basic level, as Vannier systematically relates each author's
theological views to their scriptural basis, it would be important to
point out that the formula did not originate from Scripture, and that
this partly explains the hostile reception the Nicene creed received in
certain episcopal circles.

Intertextuality is another topic mentioned in numerous chapters without
taking account of recent scholarship in the field. In Calvet-Sebasti's
contribution, for instance, the section devoted to this topic (230-232)
is superficial--the author presents no definition of the term and does
not attempt to integrate any of the recent scholarship discussing
literary approaches to historical sources developed in the past
decades.[[6]] Likewise, the absence of the notion of intertextuality
from Norelli's chapter, especially when discussing the self-referencing
aspect of Christian literature, is problematic.

Hagiography is a surprising omission from Wallraff's chapter on the
main editions of patristic texts. The Acta Sanctorum, which first
appeared in 1643, Analecta Bollandiana, founded in 1882, and the more
recent Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca deserved to be discussed in
this otherwise useful chapter.

The lack of editorial guidance in the work as a whole might explain
contradictions, overlap, and repetitions found in many of the chapters.
Norelli, for example, insists on the fluidity of the concept of
literature and argues for inclusion of a wider variety of texts than
usually found in studies of early Christian literature (25-27). While
this is a valid point, it also illustrates the lack of unity within the
book, as most chapters implicitly go against this principle by focusing
on the list of "great" names in their specific field. It will be
interesting to see if the editors of future volumes apply this
principle. Similarly, Norelli's important point regarding the parallel
development of institutions and power relations within the Christian
communities of the third and fourth centuries (47-50) gets lost in
other chapters, an oddity that could have been smoothed out by the
editors. Siniscalco's text also present some overlap with Wallraff's
chapter's topic, as well as contradictions to the boundaries of the
project as outlined by Norelli. A case in point, Siniscalco argues that
the importance of bilingualism in this period justifies discussion of
both Latin and Greek traditions (68), whereas Norelli insisted on the
specific characteristics of Greek Christian literature. In addition,
Siniscalco's discussion of the definition of "literature," after the
long introduction of Norelli, seems superfluous; two oddities that a
diligent editor could have corrected.

Overall, this is an odd book. It is uneven in quality and interest, and
it is doubtful that many will read it from cover to cover. Gounelle,
Dorival, Calvet-Sebasti, and Wallraff are likely to be the most read
essays in the long run. And Gain is unmistakably destined to become a
mandatory research guide for most beginning researchers. In the end, it
might be best to hold judgment on the professed aim of the collection
to update Quasten until subsequent volumes are published. But the
omission of important recent scholarship in the fields covered in this
first volume is not a good omen for the collection as a whole.

Table of Contents:


Bernard Pouderon, "Avant-propos"
Enrico Norelli, "Histoire de la litte/rature et histoire des
institutions chre/tiennes. Quelques conside/rations de me/thode au
seuil d'une histoire de la litte/rature grecque chre/tienne ancienne"
Paolo Siniscalco, "De l'Histoire eccle/siastique a\ l'Histoire de la
litte/rature grecque chre/tienne : une tradition mille/naire"
Re/mi Gounelle, "La transmission des e/crits litte/raires chre/tiens"
Gilles Dorival, "Les formes et mode\les litte/raires"
Marie-Anne Vannier, "L'e/volution dogmatique et son expression"
Marie-Ange Calvet-Sebasti, "L'esthe/tique"
Martin Wallraff, "Les e/ditions des textes patristiques"
Benoi^t Gain, "Instruments de travail pour l'e/tude de la litte/rature
grecque chre/tienne ancienne"
------------------
Notes:


1.   J. Quasten, Patrology (Westminster, MD., Newman Press, 1950-1986).
4 vols.

2.   C. Moreschini and E. Norelli (eds.), Storia della letteratura
cristiana antica greca e latina (Brescia, Morcelliana, 1995-1996).

3.   A. Cameron and S.G. Hall, Eusebius. Life of Constantine (Oxford,
Clarendon Press, 1999), is a good place to start. Cf. T.D. Barnes,
"Panegyric, History, and Historiography in Eusebius' Life of
Constantine," in R. Williams (ed.) The Making of Orthodoxy: Essays in
Honour of Henry Chadwick (Cambridge, CUP, 1989), 94-123; A. Cameron,
"Eusebius' Vita Constantini and the Construction of Constantine," in
M.J. Edwards and S. Swain (eds.), Portraits: Biographical
Representation in the Greek and Latin Literature of the Roman Empire
(Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1997), 145-174; H.A. Drake, "What Eusebius
Knew: The Genesis of the Vita Constantini, CP 83 (1988), 20-38.

4.   G.C. Stead, "Homoousios dans la pense/e de S. Athanase," in
Politique et the/ologie chez Athanase d'Alexandrie (Paris, Beauchesne,
1974), 233-242.

5.   L. Ayres, Nicaea and its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century
Trinitarian Theology (Oxford, OUP, 2004); and D.M. Gwynn, The
Eusebians: The Polemic of Athanasius of Alexandria and the Construction
of the 'Arian Controversy' (Oxford, OUP, 2007).

6.   E.g. J. Kristeva, Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to
Literature and Art (New York, Columbia University Press, 1980); S.
Hinds, Allusions and Intertext: Dynamics of Appropriation in Roman
Poetry (Cambridge, CUP, 1998); E.A. Clark, History, Theory, Text:
Historians and the Linguistic Turn (Cambridge, MA, HUP, 2004); see now
G. Kelly, Ammianus Marcellinus. The Allusive Historian (Cambridge, CUP,
2008).