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Anna Komnene and Her Times
This significant critical anthology explores the life of Anna Komnene, the Byzantine context in which she wrote, and the impact of the Alexiad on her times and on subsequent historical works of literature.
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First published May 17, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 25, 2017
As this is a set of papers and not a traditional monograph, a review will have to examine the articles individually. I'm not going to discuss them all, but rather give some brief comments on a few of them.
Ruth Macrides' article on who wrote the 'Alexiad' is an important contribution to scholarship ever since J.D. Howard-Johnston's article on the same topic appeared in Alexios I Komnenos (Belfast Byzantine Texts and Translations) over a decade ago. It is not a perfect article, and while I do not find her ideas of putting the pen firmly back in Anna's hand completely convincing, there are several useful critiques to weaknesses in Howard-Johnston's work on the topic. This article does help the case that Anna authored the 'Alexiad', but it does not seal it completely, and Bryennios remains as a possible major source for the work.
Paul Magdalino's article on references to the twelfth century in the 'Alexiad' is possibly the best and most useful article in this volume for understanding how Anna's time and place of writing influenced her work. It is important that she wrote under virtual house arrest in a monastery after attempting to seize the throne from her brother upon the death of Alexios, and her hostility towards the regimes of John Komnenos and Manuel Komnenos come through in the text in subtle ways. Magdalino mentions some of these, such as her subtle criticisms of astrology, a favourite practice of Manuel, or her apparent ignorance in the formation of the crusade which was designed to shield Alexios from the twelfth-century criticism for bringing Latins to the east.
A quick note on some of the lesser articles: Barbara Hill's article on Anna's attempt at removing her brother from power is fairly complete and rather useful, if basic. Emily Albu's article on Anna's story about Bohemond travelling back to western Europe in a casket with a dead rooster on his chest to make it smell like he was dead is a good and convincing treatment of stories of that nature in Norman literature. I did not find Jakov Ljubarskij's article on the 'Alexiad' as a masterpiece of Byzantine literature terribly convincing, but that is simply because I've read enough about the 'Alexiad' to be unsure as to whether it is a complete text. If it is not complete, then the best that we can do is consider it a masterpiece by chance, or an incomplete masterpiece.
While this is a book on Anna Komnene, I have to admit that I was a little frustrated by the amount of space that was devoted to women and literature in Byzantine in the eleventh and twelfth century. This is not a bad thing per se, but I cannot say that much of it helped me to understand the 'Alexiad' any better, and I seriously doubt that anyone who just wants to read some things about medieval women are going to read this book - it is a collection of scholarly articles by scholars. Some of those articles are very good and provide some important information towards understanding Anna Komnene and 'The Alexiad', but some are not particularly helpful or inspiring. All told, this is still an essential set of papers for anyone studying Byzantine literature, the 'Alexiad' or the history of the Komnenian period. It does not replace Georgina Buckler's indispensable Anna Comnena a Study (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints), but it was never intended to, and provides some useful modern scholarly interpretations that should be used alongside that important earlier work.
Ruth Macrides' article on who wrote the 'Alexiad' is an important contribution to scholarship ever since J.D. Howard-Johnston's article on the same topic appeared in Alexios I Komnenos (Belfast Byzantine Texts and Translations) over a decade ago. It is not a perfect article, and while I do not find her ideas of putting the pen firmly back in Anna's hand completely convincing, there are several useful critiques to weaknesses in Howard-Johnston's work on the topic. This article does help the case that Anna authored the 'Alexiad', but it does not seal it completely, and Bryennios remains as a possible major source for the work.
Paul Magdalino's article on references to the twelfth century in the 'Alexiad' is possibly the best and most useful article in this volume for understanding how Anna's time and place of writing influenced her work. It is important that she wrote under virtual house arrest in a monastery after attempting to seize the throne from her brother upon the death of Alexios, and her hostility towards the regimes of John Komnenos and Manuel Komnenos come through in the text in subtle ways. Magdalino mentions some of these, such as her subtle criticisms of astrology, a favourite practice of Manuel, or her apparent ignorance in the formation of the crusade which was designed to shield Alexios from the twelfth-century criticism for bringing Latins to the east.
A quick note on some of the lesser articles: Barbara Hill's article on Anna's attempt at removing her brother from power is fairly complete and rather useful, if basic. Emily Albu's article on Anna's story about Bohemond travelling back to western Europe in a casket with a dead rooster on his chest to make it smell like he was dead is a good and convincing treatment of stories of that nature in Norman literature. I did not find Jakov Ljubarskij's article on the 'Alexiad' as a masterpiece of Byzantine literature terribly convincing, but that is simply because I've read enough about the 'Alexiad' to be unsure as to whether it is a complete text. If it is not complete, then the best that we can do is consider it a masterpiece by chance, or an incomplete masterpiece.
While this is a book on Anna Komnene, I have to admit that I was a little frustrated by the amount of space that was devoted to women and literature in Byzantine in the eleventh and twelfth century. This is not a bad thing per se, but I cannot say that much of it helped me to understand the 'Alexiad' any better, and I seriously doubt that anyone who just wants to read some things about medieval women are going to read this book - it is a collection of scholarly articles by scholars. Some of those articles are very good and provide some important information towards understanding Anna Komnene and 'The Alexiad', but some are not particularly helpful or inspiring. All told, this is still an essential set of papers for anyone studying Byzantine literature, the 'Alexiad' or the history of the Komnenian period. It does not replace Georgina Buckler's indispensable Anna Comnena a Study (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints), but it was never intended to, and provides some useful modern scholarly interpretations that should be used alongside that important earlier work.
July 9, 2011
This is a really good source book for research on Byzantine or Anna Komnene herself. I used this text to defend a thesis on Anna's attempt to usurp the throne. There is a very good essay on this particular subject, but so much more. This is a book that was well researched and truly gives the reader a window into the life of a Byzantine Princess...and her world.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews