Research Interests for Laura S. Lieber

My primary area of research is in the area of synagogue poetry ("piyyut") from Late Antiquity and the Byzantine period. I examine these works from a variety of perspectives, including literary, performative, and comparative (particularly with early Christian hymnography in Syriac and Greek), and also as a genre of early Jewish biblical interpretation. In recent years, I have begun to integrate the study of material culture into my analysis of these literary works, as part of taking a more fully "contextual" approach to literary analysis. My most recent work approaches late ancient hymnography through the lens of theater studies and performance.

Current projects:

Songs from the Western Shore (volume on Aramaic poetry)

The Liturgical Stage (ancient hymnography through lens of theater)

Areas of Interest:

Byzantine Liturgical Poetry
Jewish Culture in Late Antiquity
Jewish Liturgy (history of)
Rabbinic Literature
History of Biblical Interpretation
Medieval Judaism

Recent Publications

1. Lieber, LS, Power and Praxis: Writing and Performance in Megillat Ahimaatz, Hebrew Studies, vol. 64 (January, 2023), pp. 111-131 [doi] [abs]
2. Lieber, LS, Aesthetic Convention and Ritual Creativity in Late Antique Piyyut, Prooftexts - Journal of Jewish Literature History, vol. 40 no. 1 (January, 2023), pp. 12-58 [doi] [abs]
3. Lieber, LS, SYMPOSIUM READING, WRITING, AND RITUAL: JEWISH BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS IN LATE ANTIQUITY INTRODUCTION, Hebrew Studies, vol. 64 (January, 2023), pp. 5-9 [doi] [abs]
4. Lieber, LS, Sukkot in the Garden of Eden: Liturgy, Christianity, and the Bronze Bird on Mount Gerizim, in The Samaritans: A Biblical People (January, 2022), pp. 94-101, ISBN 9789004466906 [doi]
5. Lieber, LS, "On This Day, We Are Perfect": Embodiment in Yannai's Yom Kippur Qerova, Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, vol. 30 no. 1 (January, 2022), pp. 37-69 [doi] [abs]