Paulina Kaczmarczyk
Kurzbiographie
- X 2024-now | Doctoral candidate in Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of Innsbruck, Doctoral College “Entangled Antiquities”
- 2019-2024 | Doctoral programme in History at the University of Wrocław (Poland)
- III 2021-IX 2023 | Research assistant in the Center for the Study of the Ancient World, University of Wrocław (Poland) in the NAWA Chair project “From the Achaemenids to the Romans: Contextualizing empire and its longue-dureé developments” (PI: prof. Robert Rollinger)
- 2021 | Licencjat (Bachelor’s degree) in Classical Philology, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- 2019 | Magister (Master’s degree) in History, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- 2017 | Licencjat (Bachelor’s degree) in History, University of Wrocław (Poland)
Stipendien und Mobilität
- XII 2024-V 2026 | Doctoral Scholarship of the Vice Rectorate of Research of the University of Innsbruck
- I-VIII 2024 | Ernst Mach Stipendium: Research stay at the University of Innsbruck (Austria)
- XI-XII 2023 | SSHN (Séjours Scientifiques de Haut Niveau) French Government scholarship “France Excellence”: Research stay in the École pratique des hautes études in Paris (France)
- XI 2023-VI 2024 | Wincenty Styś’s scholarship awarded by the president of Wrocław for the excellent doctoral candidates
- II-X 2023 | Erasmus Traineeship at the University of Tübingen (Germany)
- 2022 | “Late Antique Political Theology from the Early Church to the Byzantine Era” summer school, Central European University in Budapest (Hungary); financed by Erasmus Traineeship
- 2021 | 4th Byzantine Greek Summer School, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi in Istanbul (Turkey); held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic
- IX 2020 | scholarship in “PROM programme” funded by NAWA (Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange) for a month-long research stay at the British School in Athens (Greece)
- 2018 | Erasmus+ scholarship for a semester at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Publikationen
- Forthcoming | “India(s) on the Red Sea in the chronicle of John Malalas.” In F. Posselt, C. Steinwender, A. Steiner (eds.), From Athens to Samarqand: Spatial Perception in Antiquity from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Taklamakan Desert. Journal of Ancient Civilizations. Supplement.
- 2026 | CITIES OF MEMORY: URBAN NARRATIVES OF ANTIOCH AND CONSTANTINOPLE - Andrea U. De Giorgi (ed.), Antioch on the Orontes. History, Society, Ecology, and Visual Culture. Pp. xxxvi + 512, figs, ills, maps, b/w & colour pls. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. Cased, £140, US$190. ISBN: 978-1-108-83399-8. - Paul Magdalino, Roman Constantinople in Byzantine Perspective. The Memorial and Aesthetic Rediscovery of Constantine’s Beautiful City, from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance. Pp. vi + 177. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2024. Paper, €70. ISBN: 978-90-04-69889-5. The Classical Review. FirstView (pp.1-5). [joint review]
- Submitted in 2024 | “Seeking comfort in the Past. A Contemporary View on the Hellenistic Past in John Malalas’ Chronicle.” In J. Riemenschneider (ed.), Historiography at the End of Antiquity, Millennium Studies.
- Submitted in 2023 | “From Byzantium to India-Ethiopia. Alexander the Great as a prefiguration of Justinian in John Malalas’ chronicle”. In O.Gengler et al. (eds.), Herrscher und Herrschaft in Malalas’ Chronographia. Malalas Studien 5. Stuttgart.
- 2022 | Seleukos’ sacrifices on the mountaintops of Northern Syria. Understanding the foundation rituals of Tetrapolis and their context in John Malalas’ work. In M.Kasper, R.Rollinger, A.Rudigier, J.Wiesehöfer, Religion in den Bergen. Sakrale Orte, Heiligtümer, Performanz, Mythos und Alltagsleben (pp. 387-407), Montafoner Gipfeltreffen 5. Wien.
- 2021 | “Legenda o Pikusie w kronikach późnego antyku – źródło wyobrażone. Uwagi do książki Krzysztofa Hilmana „Pikus w Kronice Aleksandryjskiej i u Malalasa, Kraków 2019.” Klio. Czasopismo poświęcone Dziejom Polskim i Powszechnym 59/3 (pp. 253-274).
- 2019 | “Andrea de Giorgi: Ancient Antioch: from the Seleucid Era to the Islamic Conquest, Cambridge–New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 22,” SAMAI. Studia Antiquitatis et Medii Aevi Incohantis 4 (pp. 185-162). [review]
- 2018 | Tajemniczy rytuał oczyszczenia. Czy Scytowie mieli szamana? (Hdt. IV 73-75), SAMAI. Studia Antiquitatis et Medii Aevi Incohantis 3 (pp. 5-18).
Konferenzen
- 2025 | Narrative Strategies in the Chronographia: Use of Alexander Narrative in Shaping the Image of Justinian at the conference „Johannes Malalas und die Geschichtsschreibung des 6. Jahrhunderts”, Heidelberg, 26-27.06.2025
- 2025 | John Malalas’ Reinterpretation of Ancient History at the “3rd International Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Graduate Conference: Receiving Byzantium, Byzantium Receiving.” Wien, 16-17.05.2025
- 2024 | Seleucids and their Heritage in the Late Antique Historical Writing at the conference “Between and Beyond Empires: From the Seleucids to the Sasanians (2nd c. BC – 7th c. AD)”. Wrocław, Poland, 3–6.12.2024.
- 2024 |Perception of India-Ethiopia in Late Antique Historical Writing at 20th Workshop of the Melammu Project: From Athens to Samarqand: Spatial Perception in Antiquity from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Taklamakan Desert. Innsbruck, Austria, 17–19.01.2024.
- 2023 |Seeking Comfort in the Past. John Malalas on Hellenistic Syria at the conference "Historiography at the End of Antiquity." Concepts, Audiences, Regionality in the Broader Eastern Mediterranean 500-700. Innsbruck, Austria, 9-11.06.2023
- 2022 | Chair of the panel: ‘Late Antique, Medieval and Modern Europe’ at the conference “Contextualizing Imperial Borderlands (9th c. BC – 9th c. AD)”. Bregenz, Austria, 20-24.06.2022.
- 2021 | Seleucus’ sacrifices on the mountaintops in Northern Syria at the conference: 5th Montafoner Gipfeltreffen “Religion in den Bergen”, Schruns, Austria, 19-23.10.2021.
- 2021 | Dlaczego Aleksander nie dotarł do Syrii? Legenda o Aleksandrze w dziele Jana Malalasa [Why Alexander didn’t arrive in Syria? Legend about Alexander in John Malalas’ work at the conference Świat starożytny - centrum i peryferie [The ancient world - centres and peripheries] organised by the National Commission of Ancient History of the Polish Historical Association. Wrocław, 14-16.09.2021
Lehre
- Winter semester 2020/2021 | Latin I, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- Winter semester 2021/2022 | Latin I, University of Wrocław (Poland)
- Winter semester 2022/2023 | Latin I, University of Wrocław (Poland)
Forschungsinteressen
- Ancient and Byzantine historiography and chronicles
- (early) Christian notions and reception of antiquity
- Historical spatial perception
- Conceptualisation of ancient history
- Imperial ideology in the ancient historiography
Sprachen
- Polish: native speaker
- English: professional proficiency
- German: limited professional proficiency
- French: elementary proficiency
- good knowledge: Greek, Latin
- elementary knowledge: Old Slavonic, Biblical Hebrew, Akkadian
Dissertationsprojekt
Rewriting the Past: Unveiling the Christianised History of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East in Late Antiquity. A Historical Commentary to John Malalas’ Chronographia V 39-VI 19, VII 15-VIII 33
This doctoral project examines the reinterpretation of Eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern history in the 6th-century chronicle of John Malalas, a narrative equally shaped by earlier historiographical traditions and contemporary events, especially during Justinian I’s reign (526-565 CE).
The study analyses the largely overlooked sections of the chronicle, providing an outline of the Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean history, encompassing roughly the period from David, the first king of Israel (9th/8th c. BCE) and Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem (ca. 701 BCE) to the Roman acquisition of Syria in the 60s BCE. Structured in three parts, the dissertation is planned to begin with (1) a concise and up-to-date introduction to “John Malalas studies” and textual problems of the chronicle, followed by the chapter (2) investigating the fundamental concepts shaping the narrative, and concluded (3) with the thorough historical commentary to the chosen narrative parts (V 39-VI 19, VII 15-VIII 33). It highlights the narrativity of the chronicle and aims to uncover how and why the author “rewrote” ancient history through a Christian lens, combining earlier historiographical traditions with the contemporary worldview and political agenda. By approaching the Chronicle as a product of its time, I want to underscore John Malalas’ narrative as a unique example of the late antique Christian reception of ancient history. I also seek to highlight the influence of the author’s origins, contemporary circumstances, worldview, ideas, or even biases on his perception of history. In the Chronographia, these influences manifest through themes such as imperial succession and universalism across the ages, and the projection of the present status quo onto the past, adapted to meet the expectations of the times the author and his readers lived in.