Victims, Martyrs, Heroes in Europe, the Caucasus and Russia: Sacrifice and Christianity in Anthropological Perspective

WORKSHOP Date: 28 May 2025 The workshop is organized by Jeanne Kormina kormina.jeanne@gmail.com, Sergei Shtyrkov shtyrkov@gmail.com and Detelina Tocheva detelina.tocheva@ephe.psl.eu

Argumentaire

The workshop will delve deeper into and expand upon the idea of (self-)sacrifice, with a particular focus on the metaphor of sacrifice in political and/or religious discourse. The motif of sacrifice, rooted in the European and Caucasian contexts in the foundational Christian concept of crucifixion as Christ's willing sacrifice, plays a key role in shaping moral models and group identities —often through the creation of a hero or a group of heroes who obtain their status through their (self-)sacrifice. The construction of sacrifice occurs through the imposition of a specific destiny to some individuals and the reinterpretation of their biography within this framework. The status of the sacred (willing) victim is achieved through various manipulative processes: rituals, ceremonies, sanctification, reputation, devotion, hagiography, commodification of objects and images, as well as dissemination and disclosure; all of them can be central to the process. Participants in the workshop will address these and related issues in their presentations. We hope that the discussions and exchange of ideas will lead to the development of a large-scale research project.

Programme

10.00 – 10.45 Galia Valtchinova, CETOBaC / Université de Toulouse II Jean-Jaurès: Whose Sacrifice ? The “martyrs of communism” in postsocialist Bulgaria, from discourses to field research 10.45 – 11.30 Yulia Antonian, Yerevan State University: From the religious wars of the 5th century to the Karabakh war of 2020: sacrifice as the main political metaphor of Armenian history 11.30 – 12.15 Sergei Shtyrkov, YCIE / GSRL, EPHE-PAUSE: “God will provide Himself a lamb”: The thematisation of the sacrificial victim’s belonging in ritual and narrative 12.15 – 14.00 Lunch 14.00 – 14.45 Pierluigi Lanfranchi, Aix-Marseille Université : «Que mon sang puisse cimenter le bonheur des Français» : Sacrificial imagery in the revolutionary and royalist discourse on killing Louis XVI 14.45 – 15.30 Jeanne (Zhanna) Kormina, YCIE / GSRL, EPHE-PAUSE: Visual Language of Matryrdom: Tsar Nicholas and his Self-Sacrifice in Orthodox Icons 15.30 – 16.15 Olivier Givre, Université Lumière Lyon 2 - UMR EVS – From “pop star” to “our angel”: the life, death and afterlife of Toše Proeski (Republic of Macedonia). 16.15 – 17.00 General discussion. Discussant: Detelina Tocheva, CNRS-GSRL   Zoom link: https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/92649267484?pwd=LpGUSqGI0TFCmdbb6zN8hmoXmnIUke.1 Venue: Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités, Room 5.067, 5th floor, Bâtiment de recherche Nord, Campus Condorcet, 14, cours des Humanités Métro Front Populaire (Ligne 12) /RER B La Plaine – Stade de France   Bring your ID to obtain a badge at the counter on the ground floor of the bâtiment Nord. Use the badge in the lift (like a no-contact credit card) to go to the fifth floor.