'Body language': Physiognomic characterizations in fourth-century heresy conflicts

The current study examines fourth-century physiognomic characterizations by individuals who sought to establish cultural hegemony over their ideological opponents representing divergent interpretations of Christianity. In the context of a shifting social and religious environment marked by the realignment and redefinition of social status, Christians competed for imperial, theological, and cultural legitimacy by attempts to establish their versions of Christianity as authentic. Physiognomy served as one component in a series of larger rhetorical strategies which attempted to construct social and religious boundaries of "orthodoxy and heresy." Some individuals who posited themselves as "orthodox" combined Christian theological distinctives with social patterns adapted from concepts of paidea inculcated through education and social enculturation in a manner consistent with the previously-established social norms of the Roman elite.; Although physiognomic invective was not used by all who called themselves "orthodox," common criteria can be identified among those who employed it to marginalize their theological opponents on the basis of physical attributes and deportment grounded in Roman views relative to gender, ethnicity, and humanity. The writings of these same individuals also demonstrate attempts to establish a new Christian aristocracy around the roles of the Christian bishop, monk, and virgin by means of physiognomic description. Religious opponents characterized as "heretics" most often responded defensively to "orthodox" physiognomic programs by arguing from tradition, marshaling their defense in the authority of respected spiritual heroes, scriptural exegesis, and the apostolic tradition.; Theoretical analysis in this dissertation utilizes a three-fold rubric to examine the functional and relational aspects of physiognomic characterization as well as the individual physiognomic discourses. Physiognomy's structural function as a product and process of the fourth-century Roman imperial superstructure is studied using postcolonialism. Bourdieu's theory of practice is used to examine physiognomy as a discourse of power used by cultural agents seeking to enhance their symbolic capital. Finally, the metonymic, topographic, and linguistic distancing strategies identified by Jonathan Z. Smith are used to analyze individual physiognomic programs constructed by "orthodox" heresiologists in an attempt to marginalize their opponents as "other."...