Settantesima Settimana di studio
IL TEMPO
NELL'ALTO MEDIOEVO
13 - 19 APRILE 2023
Applications for Scholarships to Attend - Due By 6 March 2023
Nel 2005 un articolo di Jean-Claude Schmitt (Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, 48, pp. 31-52) definiva il Tempo come “l’impensé de l’histoire”. Se è ricnosciuto che, come scriveva Marc Bloch, la Storia è «la science des hommes dans le temps», sembra che in realtà le concezioni del Tempo e le loro manifestazioni nell’alto medioevo non abbiano mai costituito l’oggetto specifico di un incontro di studi o di una sintesi dell’ampiezza necessaria. Il bel congresso del Mittelateiner Kommittee tenuto a Lione nel 2014 (con atti pubblicati nel 2017) era programmaticamente centrato su testi letterari, storici e filosofici nella sola lingua latina e relativi a tutto il periodo medievale, dedicando relativamente poco spazio ai primi secoli, mentre l’argomento del convegno CISAM di Roma-Subiaco 2017 era limitato alle comunità monastiche. Nonostante i fondamentali capitoli su alcuni secoli medievali (solitamente gli ultimi) in saggi di Ariès, von den Steinen, Gurevič, Le Goff, Martin, Baschet, Pomian, e gli articoli di Wolff e tanti altri, è forse solo con Arno Borst che il tempo e le sue definizioni e misurazioni nel Medioevo sono diventati argomento centrale di studi di ampio respiro fondati su una gigantesca base documentale anche sul piano della conoscenza astronomica, della tecnica computistica e dei suoi riflessi sociali e scientifici. È dunque da questo ancoraggio sicuro, e insieme dalla nuova idea di tempo come scansione ritmica introdotta proprio da Schmitt negli ultimi anni, che possiamo partire per comprendere con un raggio di osservazione il più esteso possibile la fenomenologia del tempo nell’alto medioevo. Per cogliere il “sentimento” del tempo di un’epoca diventano infatti fondamentali anche le analisi delle famiglie semantiche che lo rappresentano nelle diverse lingue medievali e il confronto con le concezioni di civiltà europee ed extraeuropee (comprese Bisanzio, l’Islam, l’Ebraismo) in contatto osmotico con l’Occidente, le percezioni che emergono dalle risultanze archeologiche e le rappresentazioni di mesi e stagioni nelle opere d’arte, l’“outillage mental” con cui gli uomini e le donne dell’Alto Medioevo definiscono e usano questa categoria, le articolazioni del tempo quotidiano, alimentare come giuridico e liturgico, le espressioni del tempo nei trattati grammaticali e nelle teorie e pratiche musicali, perfino nelle alternanze ritmiche delle scritture dei codici. Su tutto questo la LXX Settimana CISAM del 2023 propone a trentasei studiosi internazionali di presentare e discutere lezioni nelle aree di loro competenza, per confrontare opinioni consolidate e nuove acquisizioni, interpretazioni classiche e ipotesi recenti, coinvolgendo il più ampio numero possibile di testimonianze, discipline e civiltà altomedievali per avvicinarci così, in una eucronia nei limiti del possibile senza anacronismi, a una conoscenza più profonda possibile del tempo altomedievale.
In 2005 an article by Jean-Claude Schmitt (Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, 48, pages 31-52) defined Time as the “l’impensé de l’histoire” (the common preconception in history). If we acknowledge, as Marc Bloch once wrote, that history is “la science des hommes dans the temps” (the science of men in time), it appears that the conceptions of time and expressions thereof in the early Middle Ages have never been specifically studied, nor has a thorough summary ever been drafted. The interesting convention held by the Mittelateiner Kommittee in Lyon in 2014 (whose documents were published in 2017) regularly focused on literary, historical and philosophical texts in Latin referring to the Middle Ages on the whole, somehow overlooking the early centuries, while the topic of CISAM’s Rome-Subiaco 2017 convention was basically limited to monastic communities. Despite the essential chapters concerning some specific centuries of the Middle Ages (usually the late ones) in essays by Ariès, Von den Steinen, Gurevič, Le Goff, Martin, Baschet, Pomian and in articles by Wolff and many others, perhaps time and its definitions and gauging in the Middle Ages were not properly and thoroughly studied until historian Arno Borst came along, who made it a key topic of study relying on a very vast documentary base, including astronomical knowledge, calculation techniques and the relevant social and scientific aspects. This safe haven and the new concept of time as a rhythmic scan – recently introduced by Schmitt – can therefore be our starting point to better understand, from a broader standpoint, the phenomenon of time in the early Middle Ages. In order to grasp an era’s “notion” of time it is crucial to analyse the semantic families representing it in different medieval languages, as are crucial the comparison with the ideas generally held in European and extra-European civilisations (including Byzantium, Islam, Judaism) passively in contact with the West, the perceptions that emerge from archaeological findings, the representations of months and seasons in artworks, the set of mental instruments through which men and women of the early Middle Ages defined and used this category, the daily structures of time as a nutritional, legal and liturgic element, the expressions of time in grammatical agreements and in musical theories and practice, including in the rhythmic alternations of code writing. CISAM’s LXX Study Week 2023 asks 36 international scholars to hold lessons and debate all the above, addressing the topic within their own field of expertise, to compare consolidated and newly-formed opinions, classical interpretations and recent hypotheses, involving as many testimonies, disciplines and early Middle Ages societies as possible, thus gathering – limited to the sphere of an alternate history free from anachronisms – the deepest possible knowledge of the concept of time in the early Middle Ages.
For the program and list of speakers: https://www.cisam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Circolare2023log.pdf
Competition for Scholarships
Due March 6, 2023 at 12:00 PM CET (6:00 AM ET)
In order for young and deserving post-graduate scholars, who are particularly interested in early medieval studies and in the specific topic of this year’s Settimana, to be encouraged to stay in Spoleto during the Settimana and attend the conference, scholarships will be granted to 20 Italian and 20 foreign scholars. The candidates selected by the ad-hoc Commission can stay free of charge in hotels chosen by the Foundation for the entire duration of the Settimana (with free room and board). If you accept the grant, you are required to be present at the foundation’s headquarters until the end of the participation certificate awarding ceremony, which traditionally follows the “Settimana di studio” closing speech. Scholars who, during the previous three editions of the Settimana, have already received two scholarships or those older than 32 at the expiry of the competition are not eligible. The applications must be sent to the C.I.S.A.M. Foundation Presidency by e-mail, (cisam@cisam.org) or second class post (Palazzo Arroni, via dell’Arringo - 06049 Spoleto), on plain paper, by March 6, 2023 at 12:00. Applications will have to be completed by a presentation letter, written by a university professor or a renowned scholar, stating the applicant’s merits and specific interest in attending the conference. Applications will have to include details regarding the following: a) university degree, b) academic curriculum, c) publications, if any, d) any other qualification. Successful candidates will have to provide documentary evidence of any degree, qualification or publication listed in their application. Grant holders are exempted from paying the registration fee. Any documentation presented by applicants will only be returned upon their request.
For the flyer for the scholarship: https://www.cisam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Borse-di-studio-2023.pdf
For more information about the organisation: www.cisam.org
