Beyond the Acropolis: Rethinking Neohellenism

Abstract

The aims of this paper are to examine and rethink various approaches, old and new, taken by Western scholars toward Neohellenism and to put forward a new approach that highlights the complexities and richness of Greek culture. I first outline the two dominant approaches to modern Greek culture in the West, which can be defined by their reliance on the notions of continuity and binary logic respectively. I then proceed by suggesting a new approach to Neohellenism based on the notions of cultural hybridity and dialogue, illustrated with reference to painters such as Kontoglou and Engonopoulos, and writers such as Solomos, Vizyenos, Cavafy, and Kazantzakis who best represent this dialogic conception of Neohellenism. Ultimately I hope that the presentation and study of Neohellensim as a rich syncretic phenomenon will make it more attractive to scholars and render easy classifications less acceptable.

Between ethnocentrism and Europeanism? An exploration of the effects of migration and European integration on curricula and policies in Greece

“…Questions of identity have thus largely centred on issues of common ancestry, language and the unique 'Helleno-Christian' religion, simultaneously leaning on classical memories and Byzantine traditions (Tsoukalas, 2002;Tziovas, 2001). Socio-historically, and educationally, these have been important ways of protecting the nation state against the perceived 'other' (e.g.…”

“…Few countries in Europe demonstrate the connections between religion and national agendas more clearly than Greece, where the Orthodox Church has identified itself with the nation state and the forging of an ethnically based identity (Clogg, 2002). Questions of identity have thus largely centred on issues of common ancestry, language and the unique 'Helleno-Christian' religion, simultaneously leaning on classical memories and Byzantine traditions (Tsoukalas, 2002;Tziovas, 2001). Socio-historically, and educationally, these have been important ways of protecting the nation state against the perceived 'other' (e.g.…”

Constructing national identity: Depictions of national and international space in Second World War Greek popular iconography

“…Archaeological treasures and antiquities have worked as powerful emotive icons, often charged with religious connotations, like the 'sacred rock', the Athenian Acropolis, influencing imaginings of the topos of the modern Greek nation by both Greeks and foreigners (Hamilakis and Yalouri, 1999). References to topos, and its importance in the understanding of neo-Hellenism, have also been discussed with a focus on the intersection between logos and topos, between literature and geography (Leontis, 1997(Leontis, , 1998, and, more specifically, with reference to the group of artists and men of letters, 'the generation of the 1930s', who defined Greekness and nation as fluid and evolving concepts relating to race, space, tradition, biology and progress (Tziovas, 2001(Tziovas, , 2006.…”

"Forbidden Fruits" and the Communist Paradise: Marxist Thinking on Greekness and Class in Rebetika

“…Xanthoudakis's dualistic scheme, establishing a dichotomy between old, unsavoury, and oriental aspects of rebetika and their westernized and progressive traits reflected the distinction between, in Tziovas' terms, European rationalism and Hellenism on the one hand, and oriental indiscipline and backwardness of the nation, on the other. 64 In 1975, Nikos Poulantzas intervened in the debate on popular culture, vocally demanding the formation of a popular-national unity in order to block the all-pervading forces of cultural imperialism. In a series of articles in Nea, 65 Poulatzas criticized the prevalent Orthodox Marxist thesis that the progressive movement had to create a type of militant popular art based on the principles of proletarian internationalism and communist purity.…”