Kjetil Hannevik Friestad

• Friestad, Kjetil Hannevik (2024). How do we know if a monk is a monk? - An example of diversity of asceticism among East Syriac Christians of the East Arabian coastland in the late 6th century. Show summary

  That Syriac Christian asceticism and monasticism was not a single phenomenon has long been known, but this notion is often confined to the so-called “proto-monastic” phase of Syriac Christianity indicated in the writings of Aphrahat and Ephrem in the 4th century, where different designations of ascetics appear side by side, apparently sharing some core motivations and values, but with some differences in organization and practice. Although more coenobitic forms of asceticism became more widespread in the 6th century, different designations of ascetics remained in use at least into the late 7th century. There still is, however, a tendency in scholarship to translate the Syriac terms denoting different ascetics simply as “monk”, a practice which dramatically undercuts the possible nuances and diversity in play within Syriac Christianity. In my paper, I explored this ascetic diversity in the context of the East Arabian coastland in the late 6th century.

• Friestad, Kjetil Hannevik (2023). An Archival Turn in Syriac Studies - Transparent subjectivity as an approach to the archives . Show summary

  In this paper, I explored the possibility of transparent subjectivity as a fruitful way of approaching the archives in Syriac studies, through a case study of the Synodicon Orientale, an important textual source for my PhD project. I examined its modern transmission and publication process, focusing on the agents and their motives, in order to illuminate the implicit presuppositions and frameworks that have influenced the study and use of this text. This was then used to make a case for the importance of continued awareness and transparency of subjective and cultural influences when we are studying this and other texts today.

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