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Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 66/2016
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 66, pp. 1-10, 2017/06/20
Refrains were vital to the hymnic genres which emerged in Late Antiquity: the Hebrew piyyut, the Syriac madrasha, and the Greek kontakion. This article studies the complexities of congregational participation by exploring the narrative dynamics of refrains in relation to the hymn-performance in Constantinopolitan churches. The most outstanding and influential refrain composer seems to have been Romanos the Melodist. Through a close reading of his kontakion On the Ten Virgins I (LI), this article shows how thoroughly Romanos enhances the involvement of the assembly, on both a vocal and an emotional level. At the same time, the identification of the singer with the narrator in the hymn is carefully blurred. Although many scholars have interpreted kontakia as “verse homilies”, the dynamics of the refrains contributes to a destabilization of the roles (teacher–pupils) typical in homilies.