Originally Posted by Stavroforos I don't know if I would go that far Armatus, I think the term Byzantine is alrite if it is within a Roman context, for the sake of talking about the medieval Roman Empire. Originally Posted by Armatus That's why I said "refrain", before we change the world people have to understand why of course. So some usage is permitted.
I heard a use of the word "Byzantine" yesterday in an NPR story that I hadn't heard used in quite some time. The quote went something like this "the such and such is so Byzantine". In other words, the subject mater is "backwards", "medieval", "outdated", "old", "archaic", "flawed", "failed".
to describe something today as "Byzantine" in literature refers to backstabbing and devious, stealthy practices. It's more to do with "racist, 19th century, orientalist, progress mythology " ! Late authors not only wanted to give an impression that western Europeans were the airs to the Roman legacy... but also that only they were the ones to progress upwards while the whole planet (or even the galaxy) failed to achieve the same results & fell into the abyss of eternal decay & damnation. So basically instead of blaming colonial capitalist policies and unfair trade deals... they blame the victims (90% of the world) for what ever happens - its not just medieval Roman history that has been treated unfairly but most of Eastern European culture. just check who the popular cartoon villains shown on TV are! an interesting study on the matter is "European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power" by Immanuel Wallerstein - I highly recommend it if anyone's interested !
