The Passion Accounts: The Construction of Memory between Competing Traditions and Multiple Identities

Call for Papers for the EABS Annual Conference 2026 Leuven

Session Title: The Passion Accounts: The Construction of Memory between Competing Traditions and Multiple Identities

Research Unit: Apocrypha and Christian Origins: Plural Memories and Identities

Chairs: Cecilia Antonelli (University of Geneva and Lausanne), Sara Scarpellini (University of Florence), Emanuela Valeriani (University of Regensburg)

The session is intended to explore how Passion accounts functioned as sites of memory, that is, narrative spaces where groups of believers negotiated the meaning of Jesus’ suffering and death, and reshaped these traditions across time. Particular attention will be given to the role of apocryphal traditions in constructing plural memories of the Passion and their interaction with canonical writings. We welcome papers that address canonical and apocryphal texts, textual transmission, liturgical use, theological interpretation, and cultural reception of the Passion narratives. Contributions may also engage comparative perspectives, methodological approaches from memory studies and literary theory, or broader reflections on the dynamics of inclusion, exclusion, and re-appropriation in the making of Christian identity.

Conference webpage: https://www.eabs.net/s/conferences?language=en_US