The Origins of Hellenic Identity

The Origins of Hellenic Identity PDF Author: Niketas Siniossoglou
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781472456571
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
This book addresses, for the first time within the compass of a single volume, the issue of the formation of Modern Greek identity in such a way as to connect a period traditionally addressed by Byzantinists (the 15th century) with the early modern and modern periods down to the middle of the 20th century. Within the post-modern context it has commonly been assumed that notions of Modern Greek identity emerged in the nineteenth century as a by-product of the Enlightenment: in other words, that identity discourse is a construction of the State. Contrariwise, recent and current work on late Byzantium points to ideological, political and philosophical conceptualisations of Hellenic identity that are much older and which urge us to re-consider established views on the topic. Late Byzantine thinkers such as Gemistos Plethon and Laonikos Chalkokondylis were preoccupied with the idea of Hellenic identity and developed notions of Hellenism that were not only philosophical, but also ideologically and politically expedient. Byzantine scholars in Italy in the 15th century and Leo Allatios continued the problematisation of Modern Greek identity. From a very different perspective, during the 19th century, Greek writers and thinkers such as Emmanuel Roides and Alexandros Papadiamantis developed strongly contrasting views about the intellectual connections between Modern Greece and its Byzantine heritage. Unlike existing approaches to Modern Greek identity, this volume assumes two antithetical but complementary vantage points. One takes us forward from the 15th to the 20th century; the other reverses the angle by moving backward from the 20th century to late Byzantium. The former traces a process of identity formation; the latter sheds light on a process of reflection upon Hellenism.

The Origins of Hellenic Identity

The Origins of Hellenic Identity PDF Author: Niketas Siniossoglou
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781472456571
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book addresses, for the first time within the compass of a single volume, the issue of the formation of Modern Greek identity in such a way as to connect a period traditionally addressed by Byzantinists (the 15th century) with the early modern and modern periods down to the middle of the 20th century. Within the post-modern context it has commonly been assumed that notions of Modern Greek identity emerged in the nineteenth century as a by-product of the Enlightenment: in other words, that identity discourse is a construction of the State. Contrariwise, recent and current work on late Byzantium points to ideological, political and philosophical conceptualisations of Hellenic identity that are much older and which urge us to re-consider established views on the topic. Late Byzantine thinkers such as Gemistos Plethon and Laonikos Chalkokondylis were preoccupied with the idea of Hellenic identity and developed notions of Hellenism that were not only philosophical, but also ideologically and politically expedient. Byzantine scholars in Italy in the 15th century and Leo Allatios continued the problematisation of Modern Greek identity. From a very different perspective, during the 19th century, Greek writers and thinkers such as Emmanuel Roides and Alexandros Papadiamantis developed strongly contrasting views about the intellectual connections between Modern Greece and its Byzantine heritage. Unlike existing approaches to Modern Greek identity, this volume assumes two antithetical but complementary vantage points. One takes us forward from the 15th to the 20th century; the other reverses the angle by moving backward from the 20th century to late Byzantium. The former traces a process of identity formation; the latter sheds light on a process of reflection upon Hellenism.

The Problem of Modern Greek Identity

The Problem of Modern Greek Identity PDF Author: Georgios Arabatzis
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443892823
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
The question of Modern Greek identity is certainly timely. The political events of the previous years have once more brought up such questions as: What does it actually mean to be a Greek today? What is Modern Greece, apart from and beyond the bulk of information that one would find in an encyclopaedia and the established stereotypes? This volume delves into the timely nature of these questions and provides answers not by referring to often-cited classical Antiquity, nor by treating Greece as merely and exclusively a modern nation-state. Rather, it approaches the subject in a kaleidoscopic way, by tracing the line from the Byzantine Empire to Modern Greek culture, society, philosophy, literature and politics. In presenting the diverse and certainly non-dominant approaches of a multitude of Greek scholars, it provides new insights into a diachronic problem, and will encourage new arguments and counterarguments. Despite commonly held views among Greek intelligentsia or the worldwide community, Modern Greek identity remains an open question – and wound.

National Romanticism

National Romanticism PDF Author: Balázs Trencsényi
Publisher: Central European University Press
ISBN: 6155211248
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Book Description
67 texts, including hymns, manifestos, articles or extracts from lengthy studies exemplify the relation between Romanticism and the national movements in the cultural space ranging from Poland to the Ottoman Empire. Each text is accompanied by a presentation of the author, and by an analysis of the context in which the respective work was born.The end of the 18th century and first decades of the 19th were in many respects a watershed period in European history. The ideas of the Enlightenment and the dramatic convulsions of the French Revolution had shattered the old bonds and cast doubt upon the established moral and social norms of the old corporate society. In culture a new trend, Romanticism, was successfully asserting itself against Classicism and provided a new key for a growing number of activists to 're-imagine' their national community, reaching beyond the traditional frameworks of identification (such as the 'political nation', regional patriotism, or Christian universalism). The collection focuses on the interplay of Romantic cultural discourses and the shaping of national ideology throughout the 19th century, tracing the patterns of cultural transfer with Western Europe as well as the mimetic competition of national ideologies within the region.

The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism

The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism PDF Author: Erich S. Gruen
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110387190
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
This book collects twenty two previously published essays and one new one by Erich S. Gruen who has written extensively on the literature and history of early Judaism and the experience of the Jews in the Greco-Roman world. His many articles on this subject have, however, appeared mostly in conference volumes and Festschriften, and have therefore not had wide circulation. By putting them together in a single work, this will bring the essays to the attention of a much broader scholarly readership and make them more readily available to students in the fields of ancient history and early Judaism. The pieces are quite varied, but develop a number of connected and related themes: Jewish identity in the pagan world, the literary representations by Jews and pagans of one another, the interconnections of Hellenism and Judaism, and the Jewish experience under Hellenistic monarchies and the Roman empire.

Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity

Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity PDF Author: Jonathan M. Hall
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521789998
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
In this book Jonathan Hall seeks to demonstrate that the ethnic groups of ancient Greece, like many ethnic groups throughout the world today, were not ultimately racial, linguistic, religious or cultural groups, but social groups whose 'origins' in extraneous territories were just as often imagined as they were real. Adopting an explicitly anthropological point of view, he examines the evidence of literature, archaeology and linguistics to elucidate the nature of ethnic identity in ancient Greece. Rather than treating Greek ethnic groups as 'natural' or 'essential' - let alone 'racial' - entities, he emphasises the active, constructive and dynamic role of ethnography, genealogy, material culture and language in shaping ethnic consciousness. An introductory chapter outlines the history of the study of ethnicity in Greek antiquity.

Hellenicity

Hellenicity PDF Author: Jonathan M. Hall
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226313290
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
For instance, he shows that the four main ethnic subcategories of the ancient Greeks - Akhaians, Ionians, Aiolians, and Dorians - were not primordial survivals from a premigratory period, but emerged in precise historical circumstances during the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.

Hellenisms

Hellenisms PDF Author: Katerina Zacharia
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351931067
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 461

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Book Description
This volume casts a fresh look at the multifaceted expressions of diachronic Hellenisms. A distinguished group of historians, classicists, anthropologists, ethnographers, cultural studies, and comparative literature scholars contribute essays exploring the variegated mantles of Greek ethnicity, and the legacy of Greek culture for the ancient and modern Greeks in the homeland and the diaspora, as well as for the ancient Romans and the modern Europeans. Given the scarcity of books on diachronic Hellenism in the English-speaking world, the publication of this volume represents nothing less than a breakthrough. The book provides a valuable forum to reflect on Hellenism, and is certain to generate further academic interest in the topic. The specific contribution of this volume lies in the fact that it problematizes the fluidity of Hellenism and offers a much-needed public dialogue between disparate viewpoints, in the process making a case for the existence and viability of such a polyphony. The chapters in this volume offer a reorientation of the study of Hellenism away from a binary perception to approaches giving priority to fluidity, hybridity, and multi-vocality. The volume also deals with issues of recycling tradition, cultural category, and perceptions of ethnicity. Topics explored range from European Philhellenism to Hellenic Hellenism, from the Athens 2004 Olympics to Greek cinema, from a psychoanalytical engagement with anthropological material to a subtle ethnographic analysis of Greek-American women's material culture. The readership envisaged is both academic and non-specialist; with this aim in mind, all quotations from ancient and modern sources in foreign languages have been translated into English.

The Invention of Greek Ethnography

The Invention of Greek Ethnography PDF Author: Joseph E. Skinner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199996318
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Greek ethnography is commonly believed to have developed in conjunction with the wider sense of Greek identity that emerged during the Greeks' "encounter with the barbarian"--Achaemenid Persia--during the late sixth to early fifth centuries BC. The dramatic nature of this meeting, it was thought, caused previous imaginings to crystallise into the diametric opposition between "Hellene" and "barbarian" that would ultimately give rise to ethnographic prose. The Invention of Greek Ethnography challenges the legitimacy of this conventional narrative. Drawing on recent advances in ethnographic and cultural studies and in the material culture-based analyses of the Ancient Mediterranean, Joseph Skinner argues that ethnographic discourse was already ubiquitous throughout the archaic Greek world, not only in the form of texts but also in a wide range of iconographic and archaeological materials. As such, it can be differentiated both on the margins of the Greek world, like in Olbia and Calabria and in its imagined centers, such as Delphi and Olympia. The reconstruction of this "ethnography before ethnography" demonstrates that discourses of identity and difference played a vital role in defining what it meant to be Greek in the first place long before the fifth century BC. The development of ethnographic writing and historiography are shown to be rooted in this wider process of "positioning" that was continually unfurling across time, as groups and individuals scattered the length and breadth of the Mediterranean world sought to locate themselves in relation to the narratives of the past. This shift in perspective provided by The Invention of Greek Ethnography has significant implications for current understanding of the means by which a sense of Greek identity came into being, the manner in which early discourses of identity and difference should be conceptualized, and the way in which so-called "Great Historiography," or narrative history, should ultimately be interpreted.

The Emergence of a Greek Identity (1700-1821)

The Emergence of a Greek Identity (1700-1821) PDF Author: Stratos Myrogiannis
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443836869
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
This book examines the role of Greek-speaking intellectuals in nation-formation processes during the Greek Enlightenment. The author explores how scholars invoked the concept of the ‘nation’ and issues closely related to it in order to enforce their demands either for educational reform or for national independence. To be more specific, he studies the construction of a Modern Greek identity in relation to the Greek and European Enlightenment from 1700 up to the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. The theoretical framework the author deploys is twofold. On the one hand, he exploits the methodological tools provided by the ‘history of concepts’, as formulated by Koselleck, Pocock and Skinner. On the other hand, he deploys specific concepts from current approaches on nation-formation processes in history, drawn especially from the works of Anthony Smith, Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawm. He examines the discursive strategies but also the ideology of relevant works, mainly geographies, histories and political treatises. The corpus of works he studies includes both well-known texts (e.g. by Koraes, Katartzis and Rigas), but also much ignored and so far unexamined works (e.g. by Stanos and Alexandridis). Three arguments are intertwined in the present study. The first issue that this thesis claims to address is the exploration of the incorporation of Byzantium into a Greek historical schema. During the eighteenth century Greek intellectuals attempted to rewrite the history of the Greeks and their main problem was integrating in their narrative the Greek Middle Ages. This period was viewed by them as a historical gap. In their attempt to bridge this gap, the answer they gradually came up with was the invention of what Koraes first named, earlier than is previously thought, ‘Byzantine history’. Secondly, the present study clarifies the particularities of a transformation process regarding the self-image of the Greeks as a political community. This process is evident in the writings of Greek-speaking intellectuals. Influenced by modernity and the emergence of the new political paradigm of the ‘nation’ these scholars imagined Greek-speaking people in terms of a national community. The third argument this book aims to develop is the historical link between the Enlightenment as a philosophical movement and nationalism as an ideology. The author suggests a reinterpretation of the last stage of the Greek Enlightenment. He argues that Greek-speaking scholars transmuted enlightening doctrines into a nationalist ideology in order to satisfy the new political needs of the Greek nation for the creation of an independent state. This enlightened nationalism, however, was not related to the subsequent Romantic ideology, but it was based on the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment. All in all, this book aims to contribute to the study of the Greek Enlightenment by throwing further light on the complex issues of self-image and identity.

Narrative and Identity in the Ancient Greek Novel

Narrative and Identity in the Ancient Greek Novel PDF Author: Tim Whitmarsh
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139500589
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
The Greek romance was for the Roman period what epic was for the Archaic period or drama for the Classical: the central literary vehicle for articulating ideas about the relationship between self and community. This book offers a reading of the romance both as a distinctive narrative form (using a range of narrative theories) and as a paradigmatic expression of identity (social, sexual and cultural). At the same time it emphasises the elasticity of romance narrative and its ability to accommodate both conservative and transformative models of identity. This elasticity manifests itself partly in the variation in practice between different romancers, some of whom are traditionally Hellenocentric while others are more challenging. Ultimately, however, it is argued that it reflects a tension in all romance narrative, which characteristically balances centrifugal against centripetal dynamics. This book will interest classicists, historians of the novel and students of narrative theory.