Modes of narrativity in the short history of Nicephorus of Constantinople

Abstract

Modes of narrativity applied in the Short history by Nikephoros of Constantinople are investigated on the basis of several key accounts which form a specific message of the author on the level of his entire work. This specific manner of literary presentation is particularly manifested in Nikephoros` original approach in portrayal of the Byzantine emperors and the patriarchs of Constantinople of the 7th and 8th centuries, thus embedding a specific idea of both imperial governance personalized in the reign of emperor Herakleios, and mutual relations between the Empire and the patriarchs of the Church of Constantinople, as presented in the accounts of patriarchs Sergios and Pyrrhos.