The Greek Idea

Greece today finds itself caught on a turbulent edge of Europe, yet both high culture and popular myth have long placed Greece as a locus of Western civilisation, reinforced by English travellers' 'discovery' of Greece in the late-eighteenth century and the impact this had on English Literature. Opening up fresh avenues of discourse, Maria Koundoura maps what this dual representation signifies for Greeks, both national and diasporic. In doing so, she touches on twentieth century diaspora cultures from Europe to the United States, offering a new critical paradigm from which to explore national and transnational identities. Koundoura deftly draws upon postcolonial theory to address and analyse the cultural material that has produced Greece's representation as both 'European' and 'other'. This is a fascinating contribution to the growing area of transnational culture studies, as well as a valuable resource for scholars of Postcolonialism, Modern Greek, Diaspora studies, multicultural studies and Balkan studies.