Languages, Identities and Cultural Transfers

What was the perception of Greece in Europe during the later nineteenth century, when the attraction of romantic philhellenism had waned? This volume focuses on the reception of medieval and modern Greece in the European press, rigorously analysing journals and newspapers published in England, France, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands. The essays here suggest that reactions to the Greek state's progress and irredentist desires were followed among the European intelligentsia. Concurrently, new scholarship on the historical development of the Greek language and vernacular literature enhanced the image of medieval and modern Greece. This volume's contributors consider the press's role in this Europewide exchange of ideas, explore the links between romantic and late philhellenism and underscore the scholarly nature of the latter. Moreover, they highlight the human aspects of cultural transfers by focusing on networks of mediators, publishers and scholarly collaborators. This context enhances our understanding of both the creation of Hellenic studies and the complex formation of the modern Greek identity.

Georgia Gotsi is Professor of Modern Greek and Comparative Literature at the University of Patras, Greece.|Despina Provata is Professor of History of French Civilization at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Joep Leerssen holds the Chair of Modern European Literature at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of many authoritative studies on the relations between literature, historical consciousness and nationalism.

Note on transliteration and other editorial practices, List of figures, Introduction: Greece in the European press in the second half of the nineteenth century: Language, culture, identity, Georgia Gotsi and Despina Provata, 1. Marinos Papadopoulos Vretos: 'Le trait d'union entre Paris et Athènes, l'intermédiaire naturel entre la Grèce et les Philhellènes des bords de la Seine' (Victor Fournel, L'Espérance, 1858), Stessi Athini, 2. Greek identities and French politics in the Revue des Deux Mondes (1846-1900), Ourania Polycandrioti, 3. The emergence of modern Greek studies in late-nineteenth century France and England: The yearbooks of the Association pour l'encouragement des études grecques en France (1867) and of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (1877), Alexandros Katsigiannis, 4. La Grèce moderne dans la Nouvelle Revue (1879-1899), Despina Provata, 5. Medieval and modern Greece in the Academy, Georgia Gotsi, 6. Modern Greek studies in Italy (1866-1897): Philhellenic revival and classical tradition through the lens of the Nuova Antologia, Francesco Scalora, 7. An interesting utopian undertaking: The Philhellenic Society of Amsterdam and the journal ...../Hellas (Leiden, 1889-1897), Lambros Varelas, 8. Les études de grec moderne en Allemagne et la revue Byzantinische Zeitschrift (1892-1909), Marilisa Mitsou, 9. La Grèce et l'Europe à travers l'insurrection crétoise de 1895-1897, reflétées dans la presse de l'époque, Alceste Sofou, Index of Names, Index of Places, Index of Newspapers and Periodicals.