IPRA’s second international conference: Geneses : comparative study of the historiographies of the rise of Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism and Islam

A certain triumphalist fatalism has long dominated the historiography of the rise of Christianity and that of the expansion of Islam. Eusebius and Jerome give the tone: they celebrate a Christian cult destined to renew a Roman Empire corrupted by decadent paganism and obsolete Judaism. That tune is still heard today, and still resonates even in the work of resolutely secular historians. The same is true of the historiography of the first centuries of Islam: the spread of the new religion in the conquered territories and the gradual conversion of the majority of the inhabitants of the dar al-islam is seen as somehow inevitable. In both cases, this adherence to traditional historiography reinforces an essentialist vision of Christianity and Islam, whereas a significant body of research over the last thirty years has shown the fluidity and malleability of these religious traditions.

This conference will study these theme in a comparative perspective, paying particular attention to the formation and expression of traditional narratives, competing narratives from other traditions (Karaism, Christianism from Ethiopia or Armenia, Manicheism, Khawarij shiism, etc.) and the reinterpretations of this narratives by the academic community during the 20th and 21st centuries.

This conference will take place on May 22, 23 and 24  at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Ange-Guépin, Nantes.

Free entrance — registration is preferable: nicolas.stefanni@univ-nantes.fr