Constructions of Norms
Norms, i.e. value-orientated bodies of rules, are omnipresent in all cultures of the ancient world, and are therefore a relevant concept for all disciplines engaged in the study of the ancient world. The analysis of norms can include, amongst other things,
i) the self-perception and self-representation of social/cultural groups;
ii) the importance of norms as guidelines for decisions and behaviour;
iii) the function of norms in stabilising or changing a culture;
iv) the degree to which norms were held as binding rules;
v) how explicit norms were in a given society;
vi) rivalries between conflicting sets of norms within a given culture;
vii) the potency of cultural key concepts, such as "truth" or "happiness", social norms in the mirror of body-orientated identity patterns ("body-turn") etc.
The analysis of norms and their underlying principles allows a wide range of approaches and research interests. It can, for example, take the form of a comprehensive study of a complex or system of norms in a given culture at a given time or how individual norms within this system came into being. Alternatively, such an analysis could examine the significance of a specific norm in one culture or across multiple difference cultures, or even focus on the development and significance of a single norm in a specific genre or cultural product.
In any analysis of norms, the scholar has an obligation to consider how the methodology used relates to the general methodology or methodologies of ancient studies. This is all the more important in light of the fact that ancient studies have orientated their methodology in part towards those of cultural studies, a field whose aims and interests are in large part concerned with the relevance – or irrelevance – of norms in modern cultures. When studying the norms of ancient societies, it is thus also necessary to confront the methodological differences with modern cultural studies and to be aware of the boundaries between the study of the ancient and modern world. It is further important to differentiate carefully between the norms established by a given culture itself and norms imposed upon that culture or imported into its analysis by later interpreters.
The analysis of norms can bring new insights into diverse aspects of ancient cultures in multiple fields, such as philosophy, theology, history, and archaeology. The broad spectrum of potential research topics could include, for example, mechanisms of differentiation within a single social group, as reflected in individual self-presentation (e.g. dress, jewellery), religious and social practices (e.g. burial and sacrificial customs), settlement hierarchies, monumental and private architecture, etc.
The study of norms can also shed light on the ways in which ancient societies dealt with foreign cultures and provide a welcome challenge to the long-standing polarisation inherent in the idea of the ‘barbarian’. How ancient cultures viewed foreignness differed according to time and place and varied between marginalisation and integration, hostility and fascination, or an ambivalent and nuanced perception of ‘the other’. The cultural norms of a given society formed the context for ancient discourses on foreignness and otherness and provide a backdrop against which related phenomena (e.g. Scythomania in Athens or the notion of the ‘beautiful’ Amazon) may be examined.