# Tags #Orientalism #Byzantine/Identity #Byzantine/Subaltern #Ethnicity #Byzantine/Substance --- ### Observations and Critiques: - Stouraitis provides another intriguing analysis to disrupt Byzantine scholarship's reliance on the term "Byzantine" to separate itself from other fields (such as Classics) and moves to strike at the orientalist motives behind the use of the term. Though he recognizes that Byzantine scholarship has done a lot over the past 40-50 years to re-examine itself and the subject we are all passionate about, the term is infected with lingering oriental tropes about medieval Roman society. - I am regretful that Stouraitis does not cite Kaldellis' *Romanland* as it is an excellent piece of scholarship that complements some of Stouraitis' work. Each recognizes the oriental nature of the term "Byzantine," but the divergence appears to be in what Kaldellis calls [[Byzantine Substance]] where Stouraitis focus on the [[Byzantine Subaltern]] I agree more with Stouraitis concerning the subaltern nature of Byzantium and that discussion of Substance, promoted by Kaldellis, is resolved. We know the substance and we need find alternatives for the label Byzantium. - Again archaeology is avoided. Numismatics is not mentioned. Here I refer to my [[Roman Identity in Byzantium 2]] concerning using coins as tools for creating collective identities. I would have liked to see how coins were used to create a separation of Roman and Byzantine identity for this particular article, especially since coin collecting was popular during nation-state building in the 19th century. No doubt, in my opinion, they contribute to the confusion of what Byzantium is, when did it start, and what evidence is used to support these claims. For numismatics, 498 CE (monetary reforms of Anastasius I) is the typical starting point for what is identified as "Byzantine Coinage." --- ### Citation: Stouraitis, Y. (2022). "Is Byzantinism an Orientalism? Reflections on Byzantium’s constructed identities and debated ideologies,"" in Y. Stouraitis (Ed.), _Identities and Ideologies in the Medieval East Roman World_ (Edinburgh Byzantine Series). Edinburgh University Press. --- ### Links [[Is Byzantinism an Orientalism]]