Dancing With Deconstructionists in the Gardens of the Muses: New Literary History vs ?

Abstract

In 1981 I noted that Byzantine literature has never had a good press, least of all from its own students. It was not hard to document this assertion. The opinion of Gibbon that not a single composition of history, philosophy or literature has been saved from oblivion by the intrinsic beauties of style or sentiment, of original fancy, or even of successful imitation. Their prose is soaring to the vicious affectation of poetry, their poetry is sinking below the flatness and inspidity of prose might perhaps be expected, but it found support in the views of Romilly Jenkins: The Byzantine empire remains almost the unique example of a highly civilized state, lasting for more than a millennium, which produced hardly any educated writing which can be read with pleasure for its literary merit alone.