Emmanuelle Raga
Emmanuelle Raga studied Medieval History at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Belgium) and at the Università degli studi di Bologna (Italy) between 2002 and 2006. She also holds a Masters degree in European studies from the Institut d’Etudes Européennes of Brussels. She recently completed a PhD in Late Antique History under the co-direction of Alain Dierkens (ULB) and Massimo Montanari (Università degli studi di Bologna). Her thesis Le Banquet et la “transformation du monde romain” : entre Romanitas, Barbaritas et Christianisme. Espace romain occidental, IVe-VIe siècle” focuses on the evolution of the classical banquet as a primordial tool for the expression of the classical culture. Specifically, it deals with the transformation of the classical banquet through two phenomena: on the one hand, the new sociopolitical situation due to the migration and installation of the successor “barbarian” kingdoms; and on the other hand, the intensification of the so-called “Christianization” of the Roman world, and in particular the ascetic discourse in vogue during 4th and 5th centuries. During her stay at ISAW, she will study early Christian discourses relating to food practices and their underlying effects on conviviality and sociability. The encounter between classical conviviality and the Christian discourse is problematic for at least two reasons: 1) the fact that there is a debate around the two standards of the perfect Christian life (the contemplative/solitary life and the active/social/hospitable life), 2) the fact that the Christian ascetic ideology looks askance at the concepts of leisure, pleasure and socially controlled excesses which are at the base of most of the convivial activities in the Classical world. The study of the nature of this encounter and the answers given by the classical Romans will bring a new perception of one of the important aspects of the transition between the Classical and Christian world.