Questioning methods and concepts: The last Methodenseminar of the GRK

A Blog-post by Nicky van de Beek.

On 15 January 2021, the sixth and final cohort of our Graduiertenkolleg enjoyed their first “Methodenseminar”. This seminar forms a useful introduction to the various methods that can be employed within our respective doctoral projects and is generally intended to help us on our way. Also, the discussions that arise between professors and doctoral students can provide inspiration for further questioning of our sources and methods.

To begin with, Professor Pommerening provided an introduction to the way in which concepts are used within the Research Training Group. By exploring the subjects of world formation and world end, natural phenomena and catastrophes, flora, fauna and the human body from a variety of disciplines, we are creating a network of original research that is interconnected and interdisciplinary. We all ask the question as to which of the concepts we encounter within our research fields are found to be universal, culture-specific, or the result of exchange between cultures.


Figure 1. Network graph showing how the different PhD projects within the GRK are interlinked

The first question to ask is therefore: What is a concept? In order to come to a more or less corresponding definition of concept (or 'meta concept'), specific methods are employed within the framework of the Reasearch Training Group. Over the course of the next sessions of the Methodenseminar, these methods and theories will be introduced and tested for their applicability to our different research questions.

In addition to the general introduction, every member of our cohort had prepared a handout and presentation addressing their own specific research and how concepts could be derived from our source material. We proceeded with the presentations in chronological order, which immediately points to the tendency of humans to value order over chaos and seek ways to organize an otherwise chaotic world.

After my own ramblings about trees in ancient Egypt (what is a tree? Is a tree the same to us as it is for an ancient Egyptian? How did they classify their trees?), Yossra Ibrahim continued with a talk about celestial diagrams in ancient Egyptian temples and tombs. This immediately led to the interesting question of what an ancient Egyptian saw when he (or she) looked up at the night sky: the shape of divinities and dead kings, or balls of light? And does a priest or a king see the same as a common man?

Nathalie Rodriguez then gave an interesting talk focusing on the conception of an image or work of art by a craftsman, who in turn was commissioned by a patron, using their available skills, material, and repertoire. Discussions about art among ancient cultures at some point inevitably come to the question of sample books (Musterbücher). How did ancient craftsmen copy motifs from one tomb to another? Moreover, images contain knowledge or messages that are understood by members of a culture, such as coins minted by an emperor showing everyone who was boss.

Next, Maral Schumann treated us to an intriguing exposition on Sassanid sky burials and their secondary interment as defleshed bones. A discussion followed on the (ritual) purity of bodies and it was suggested that frame semantics might be an interesting way to approach this research question.

Finally, Sibel Kayan discussed the ideal death in Byzantine sources using historical discourse analysis. It turned out that this culture distinguishes between no less than three consecutive deaths: the physical death, the judgement in the afterlife and the Second Coming of Christ. Life itself can thus perhaps be regarded as a dying process, the ultimate embodiment of memento mori and martyrdom.

All in all, the proceedings took an hour longer than planned, which can be regarded as a sign of the participants’ dedication. In the next sessions, we will talk about semiotics, prototype semantics and discourse analysis, among others. Each time a pre-recorded introduction to the general theme will be followed by a presentation by one of the students tailored to their specific research, with a discussion at the end. The presentations and lively discussions of this and future sessions of the Methodenseminar will no doubt contribute to five thought-provoking dissertations.

Figure 2. Participants of the Methodenseminar

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