Pavlos Matesis and Post Modernist Elements, Nationalism and The Other in His Work "The Daughter"


Ozemrah M. S.

LITERA-JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE LITERATURE AND CULTURE STUDIES, cilt.27, sa.2, ss.91-111, 2017 (ESCI) identifier

Özet

Modern Greek literature, by both preserving its traditional elements and following world literary trends, especially those from the West, has fabricated an authentic literature since 1821. Modern Greek literature has discussed social, cultural and historical events that have affected Greece, as an element in literary works as both prose and poetry. One of these historical events is World War II, this affected the whole world and launched an immediate chain of events such as the Italian occupation and resistance to the occupation, as well as the famine and civil war in Greece. This study was prepared by examining Dilsizin Kizi (The Daughter) by Pavlos Matesis, in which the protagonist Raraou tells the story of her own life in the axis of these historical events. The post-modernist elements of the work have been analyzed and the notions of nationalism and 'the other' have been scrutinized. Within this context, it is revealed that while 'Turk' preserved its place as the historical 'the other' in Modern Greek literature, the concept of the other changed as a result of the events that occurred during and after World War II. In addition, it can be said that the work prompts the reader to question the notion of nationalism by problematizing it. It has been found that Modern Greek literature, while continuing the tradition, followed trends in world literature. Matesis created a unique work by combining post-modernist elements with traditional Greek prose.