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Cultural Identity and Self-Presentation in Ancient Egyptian Fictional Narratives

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Cultural Identity and Self-Presentation in Ancient Egyptian Fictional Narratives Cultural Identity and Self-presentation in Ancient Egyptian Fictional Narratives. An Intertextual Study of Narrative Motifs from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman Period Rana Salim To cite this version: Rana Salim. Cultural Identity and Self-presentation in Ancient Egyptian Fictional Narratives. An Intertextual Study of Narrative Motifs from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman Period. Literature. University of Copenhagen. Faculty of Humanities, 2013. English. tel-00859222 HAL Id: tel-00859222 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00859222 Submitted on 6 Sep 2013 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Cultural Identity and Self-presentation in Ancient Egyptian Fictional Narratives An Intertextual Study of Narrative Motifs from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman Period Rana Salim PhD Thesis Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Copenhagen April 2013 SUMMARY The present dissertation is a diachronic study of cultural identity and self-presentation in ancient Egyptian fictional narratives. Cultural identity implies notions such as customs, practices, values and world-views that are implicitly or explicitly expressed in fictional narrative. The texts that are included in the study span from the Middle and New Kingdoms (c. 2055-1650 BC and 1550-1069 BC), and Ptolemaic and Roman periods (332-30 BC and 30 BC- 395 AD) and the material is analyzed within a framework that addresses “narrative traditions,” which is the transmission of cultural identity in the narratives through time. In light of the diachronic perspective of the study, I focus on four principle motifs of Egyptian narratives: priests, kings, warriors, and women, and explore the literary presentations of these within an historical and intertextual context. The project relates to the literate class of ancient Egyptian society and through exploring the motifs above-mentioned motifs within a diachronic historical and intertextual context, the aim of the thesis is to gain an understanding of forming and preserving cultural identity of that specific sphere of Egyptian society through time. The archeological contexts of the material will, where it is possible, be included. This will contribute to identifying, for example, established traditions, as opposed to local traditions. RESUME Denne afhandling er et diakronisk studie af kulturel identitet og selv-præsentation i oldegyptiske fiktive fortællinger. Kulturel identitet indebærer begreber, så som skik, praksis, værdier og livsopfattelser, der implicit eller eksplicit kommer til udtrykt i fiktive fortællinger. De tekster, der indgår i undersøgelsen stammer fra Mellemste og Ny Rige (ca. 2055-1650 f.Kr. og 1550-1069 f.Kr.), og den Ptolemæiske og Romerske periode (332-30 f.Kr. og 30 f.Kr.-395 e.Kr.). Materialet er analyseret indenfor en ramme, der adresserer ”narrative traditioner,” dvs. kulturel identitet i fortællingerne gennem tiden. I lyset af undersøgelsens diakrone perspektiv fokuserer jeg på fire primære motiver i egyptiske fortællinger: præster, konger, krigere, og kvinder og udforsker de litterære præsentationer af disse inden for en historisk og intertekstuel kontekst. Projektet berører den litterære klasse af det oldegyptiske samfund og gennem en undersøgelse af ovennævnte motiver indenfor en diakron og intertekstuel kontekst, vil det være muligt at få et indblik i selve dannelsen og bevarelsen af kulturel identitet for denne særlige sfære af det egyptiske samfund gennem tiden. Materialets arkæologiske kontekst vil, hvor det er muligt, også tages i betragtning. Dette vil bidrage til at identificere, for eksempel, etablerede traditioner, i modsætning til lokale traditioner. Acknowledgements This work would not have been possible without the valuable help and input of numerous people. I would like to begin by thanking my supervisors Fredrik Hagen and Gerald Moers for providing constructive feedback and comments for this project, as well as constant encouragement. Fredrik, above all, has patiently overseen every stage of this endeavor with invaluable suggestions regarding the general direction and content of the dissertation, but also with respect to my professional development. Gerald, for his part, offered insightful and unwavering long-distance support towards improving several facets of my work. I am very grateful to the Danish Research Council (FKK) for granting funding for this project. I also thank Kim Ryholt for the opportunity to pursue my PhD research at the Center for Canon and Identity Formation (CIF), University of Copenhagen, and for his comments and feedback, especially with respect to the unpublished Demotic material from the Tebtunis temple library. I am very grateful to Ian Rutherford and Marco Perale for offering their expertise regarding the Classical material. I extend my special thanks to my former teacher Paul John Frandsen who has always believed in me and never failed to be supportive. My work has benefited immensely from the dynamic research environment at CIF and from the interaction with numerous Danish and foreign colleagues. I offer my thanks to all my friends and co- workers at CIF, especially the “CIF-team”, with Seraina Nett, who has been a source of encouragement and my constant companion during the period of three years; likewise Rune Olsen, my dear friend of over a decade, who always comes armed with patience and humor; and Hratch Papazian, who has offered suggestions and readings for portions of my work and has been indispensable during many episodes of “IT-crisis.” I am indebted to Elizabeth Frood for hosting me at the University of Oxford and to her colleagues and students at the Oriental Institute for the interest shown in my work and for the stimulating discussions. Richard Parkinson offered me an internship at the British Museum, which benefited me professionally on many levels, and I thank him and the staff of the British Museum for their hospitality. I also wish to acknowledge Richard Stoneman for showing an interest in my work and for inviting me to present my ideas at a lecture held at the Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Exeter. Roger Bagnall agreed to host me as a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), New York University. The lively international environment offered me the possibility to discuss my work within a wider scholarly spectrum and positively influenced the results of my research. Finally, I wish to acknowledge that during the last three years I have maintained an affiliation in my capacity as a PhD student with The University of Copenhagen Graduate School in Languages and Linguistics under the direction of Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen. To my friends for their on-going help and encouragement and for listening! Adam Anderson, Maria Coanda, Tina & Peer Frausing, Søren Haagh, Anne Mette Harpelund, Hanne Kiesow, Arvinder Tiwana, Charlotte Wolff. For their support, my colleagues at ToRS: Troels Arbøll, Thomas Christiansen, Ole Herslund, Mette Gregersen, Thomas Hertel and Jens Jørgensen. My special thanks goes to Hans Kiesow who agreed to take on the tedious task of correcting my English. All remaining mistakes are my own. This work would not have been possible without the love and support of my family: Zain Salim, my mother, Linda & Mehdi Ziadé, and my three angels, my nephews, Marcel, Marcus and Matéo who always manage to bring sunshine in my life. I could not have done it without you! Table of Contents (1) General Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 (1.1) Aim and Scope of the Project ................................................................................................................ 1 (1.2) Research History ........................................................................................................................................ 2 (1.2.1) Dating and Context of the Manuscripts ............................................................................... 3 (1.2.2) Propaganda Model ....................................................................................................................... 5 (1.2.3) Theory of Cultural Texts ............................................................................................................ 9 (1.2.4) The New British School ............................................................................................................ 13 (1.3) Theoretical Background ....................................................................................................................... 16 (1.4) Methodological Approach and Structure of the Dissertation ............................................... 20 (2) Literary Construction of Priestly Identity .......................................................................................... 23 (2.1) Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................
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