Topics in Modern Greek Literature
Fascism and Fiction: Re-defining the Modern Greek Historical Novel in the 20th Century
This course examines certain aspects of the relationship between fascism and Greek fiction. From the 1930’s to the 1970’s, Greece experienced three different repressive fascist regimes: The dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas, the (Nazi) Occupation, and the military dictatorship of 1967. Fiction writers, dealing with that period, use prose fiction, particularly the novel, in order to make sense of the violent historical events and changes in political and social thought during those years. Trapped between exalting leftist ideologies and repressive fascism, the fiction of these writers points toward the theoretical perspectives of New and Modern Historicism which are being used as a reaction to repressive power structures. Thus, the position of these authors forces them to re-define the ways of writing historical and political fiction and ultimately to explore new aspects in the relationship between history and the novel.
Readings in history and theory are available in English.
Literary materials are available in Greek and in English translation.
Films chosen for the course are subtitled in English.