RT Article
T1 Mapping the Margins of Scrolls and Clay Tablets: The Construction of Identity in the Ancient World
JF Die Welt des Orients
VO 50
IS 2
SP 205
OP 215
A1 Töyräänvuori, Joanna
LA English
PB Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
YR 2020
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1738316408
AB Sociological concepts like identity theory, social identity theory, narrative theory of identity, and intersectionality are often cannibalized in discussions of ancient identity. Ancient identities were complex, multifaceted, and comparable to modern identities, but due to the fragmentary nature of the evidence, they are difficult to reach, and hence ought to be appreciated only as historical fictions. The bulk of the discourse on ancient identities seems to focus on questions of ethnicity because ancient texts allow for a more detailed discussion of the topic, but this does not make other kinds of identity in the ancient world less important. The author suggests that the concept of strategic essentialism might be applied in discussions of ancient identities to facilitate more nuanced discourse.
DO 10.13109/wdor.2020.50.2.205