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The fluidity of barbarian identity: the ethnogenesis of Alemanni and Suebi, AD 200–500
Author(s) -
Hummer Hans J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
early medieval europe
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1468-0254
pISSN - 0963-9462
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0254.00016
Subject(s) - barbarian , ethnogenesis , identity (music) , context (archaeology) , romance , history , genealogy , art , anthropology , ancient history , sociology , archaeology , literature , aesthetics , ethnic group
This article argues against the romantic notion that barbarian peoples organized themselves around internal identities which persisted essentially unchanged over centuries. The Alemanni comprised an amalgam of constituent groups whose identities and behaviour fluctuated according to situation and context. This loose association of groups was transformed into a more cohesively organized gentile configuration during the migration period, when Alemannic and Suebic elements formed a common Alemannic identity.