Armenian Cross-Cultural Ties Subject of New Book by La Porta

ANDREW ESGUERRA – Staff Writer

The Armenian Studies Program of Fresno State is pleased to announce the publication of a volume entitled, Negotiating Co-Existence. Communities, Cultures and Convivencia in Byzantine Society, co-edited by Haig and Isabel Berberian Chair of Armenian Studies, Dr. Sergio La Porta.

The volume is the result of a conference convened in 2010 by Dr. Barbara Crostini in Dublin, which aimed at accentuating the cultural diversity of the Byzantine Commonwealth and exploring modes of cultural interaction between its members. At the conclusion of the conference, Dr. Crostini asked Dr. La Porta whether he would be willing to co-edit the papers for a volume.

The volume contains thirteen essays that address issues of the definition of Arabs and Islam in Byzantium, exchanges of material culture, translations of texts and visual images across borders, and the dynamics of co-existence.

The volume includes a contribution by Dr. La Porta on “Re-Constructing Armenia: Strategies of Co-Existence amongst Christians and Muslims in the Thirteenth Century.” Although the territory of Armenia was not within the Byzantine Commonwealth in the thirteenth century, the essay provided an analogy of the complexities of inter-communal relations and of the construction of communal identity in a neighboring society. In the essay, Dr. La Porta examined how the removal of the older established Armenian noble houses (the naxarar-s), as well as the lack of a single dominant political power, enabled the rise of new social and political classes as well as how interactions between Armenian, Georgian, and Turkic peoples produced a shared cultural environment.