CHRISTIAN ORIENT: PAST AND PRESENT

The course provides the students with the elements of little-known cultures of the Middle East, which, however, have had a long historical tradition and are still lively although in some cases their representatives are scattered in a diaspora all over Europe and North America and are on the verge of extinction (especially in Turkey and in Iraq). By introducing the students to the sources and the traditions of autochtone Asian and African Christianities this course will open up an unusual, varied, and different perspective on the history of the Middle East and of Christianity itself. The exposition to the complexity of the interactions that bound Christians of Asia and Africa with the many religions (especialy Islam) they encountered along their millennial history, will prompt a critical and nuanced attitude towards the idea itself of what Christianity is.

After the course, students will be able to recognize the specific features of the major traditions of Asian and African Christianities; to outline their historical and geographical development; to read and interpret some of their crucial texts; to appraise their interactions with other religious traditions and to appreciate their historical and cultural relevance as a vital component of the complex religious world of the Middle East.

No preliminary knowledge is needed; however, basic familiarity with the Bible is strongly recommended.

In the first part, the course will gradually provide an introduction to the history Asian and African Christianities; the historical presentation will regularly alternate with the reading of highly representative texts. These Christianities initially thrived during the 1st millennium CE under Roman and Persian, and then under Umayyad and Abbasid rule; we shall follow their development further up to the Mongol invasions and khanates. We shall especially concentrate on those Christianities which expressed themselves in Syriac (a Meopotamian variety of Aramaic in which a rich and important literature was produced) and in Arabic. We shall discover the vast Eurasiatic expansion of Syro-Arabic Christianity, which reached China already in the 7th century (much earlier than the Jesuit missions) and which later on, in the 13th century, had its monks travel from Peking to Bordeaux.
The texts we will read have a particular focus on the encounter of these Christianities with other religions (especially with Islam and Buddhism).
Finally we shall briefly study how African and Asian Christians were a driving force in the renaissance of Arabic culture and literature in the 19th century under Ottoman rule.

Compulsory Reading:

Aldo Ferrari (a c. di), Popoli e Chiese dell'Oriente cristiano, Edizioni Lavoro, Roma, 2008, p. 3-60; 135-147; 177-199 (disponibili su moodle).
Sebastian Brock, La spiritualità nella tradizione siriaca, Roma, Lipa, 2006, p. 9-39; 51-55; 59-87; 119-137.
Corano, Sura 3, 37-55; Sura 4, 155-171; Sura 5, 14; Sura 19, 16-37.
Ida Zilio-Grandi, "Gesù figlio di Maria, servo di Dio, profeta dell'Islam", in "Voi chi credete che io sia?" Gesù nel suo e nel nostro tempo. Atti del convegno, Ferrara, 11-13 Marzo 2005 (Ferrara: Gallio, 2007), p. 253-270.

One of the following:

-Barbara Roggema, The Legend of Sergius Baḥīrā: Eastern Christian Apologetics and Apocalyptic in Response to Islam. The History of Christian-Muslim Relations 9. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2009, p. 1-6; 37-40; 56-60; 96-121; 129-149; 257-259; 265-285.

-I sette dormienti. Una leggenda tra Oriente e Occidente. Con un saggio di Louis Massignon. A cura di Guido Avezzù. Milano: Medusa, 2002, p. 23-33; 41-61.

-Matteo Nicolini-Zani, La via radiosa per l'Oriente. I testi e la storia del primo incontro del cristianesimo con il mondo culturale e religioso cinese (secoli VII-IX), Bose: Qiqajon, 2006, p. 191-211 + P.Y. Saeki, The Nestorian Monument in China, London-New York-Toronto: MacMillan, 1916, p. 181-213.

-Storia di Mar Yahballaha e Rabban Sauma. Cronaca siriaca del XIV secolo, a cura di Pier Giorgio Borbone, Lulu edizioni 2010: dall' INTRODUZIONE p. 13-46, e tutto il testo della Storia.

For those who can read French, the following introduction is highly recommended:
Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Muriel Debié, Le monde syriaque. Sur les routes d'un christianisme ignoré, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2017.

Learning and understanding will be assessed through an oral exam. For those who attended, the exam will also focus on the content of the classes. One question will address the general history of Eastern Christianity; a second one will address the contents of Brock's volume; a third one will address Jesus in the Qur'an; a last one will deal with the text chosen by the student.

Mainly lecture-style instruction entailing the discussion of texts, audio-visual materials, and online resources.

Italian

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