What Turkish Minority? - This is ONLY the calm before the storm...

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Greece to pay indemnity in one of two cases filed by Turkish Minority Foundations, on Thursday. In the first case, ECHR ruled that Greece has violated the Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights on "the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others" by shutting down foundations belonging to the Turkish minority. In this case filed by Galip Galip and his seven consorts --upon the dissolution of "Iskece Turkish Union" and "Western Thrace Turkish Alumni" associations-- the court ordered Greek Government to pay an indemnity of 8 thousand Euro.

STRASBOURG -
The second case was filed by Hulya Emin and her friends in 2005 against the dissolution of the "Turkish Women`s Cultural Organisation " .

Considering the prolongment of the case, the ECHR ruled that Greece had violated the Article 6 of the convention on "the right to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law", but did not order payment of indemnities.

The reasoned verdict said, associations had the right to promote their ethnic cultures and this did not constitute a threat of any sorts to a democratic society. It said minorities of different cultures were a historic reality and noted that democratic countries should tolerate and protect these minorities.

Greek courts ordered the dissolution of the said foundations on the grounds that they identified themselves as "Turkish Minority" rather than "Muslim Minority" .


30.03.2008

Ο ΚΑΙΡΟC ΓΑΡ ΕΓΓΥC

http://www.stoxos.gr

"ΤΟ ΔΕ ΤΗΝ ΠΟΛΙΝ ΣΟΙ ΔΟΥΝΑΙ, ΟΥΤ' ΕΜΟΝ ΕΣΤΙ ΟΥΤΕ ΑΛΛΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΚΑΤΟΙΚΟΥΝΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΑΥΤΗ. ΚΟΙΝΗ ΓΑΡ ΓΝΩΜΗ ΠΑΝΤΕΣ ΑΥΤΟΠΡΟΑΙΡΕΤΩΣ ΑΠΟΘΑΝΟΥΜΕΝ ΚΑΙ ΟΥ ΦΕΙΣΟΜΕΘΑ ΤΗΣ ΖΩΗΣ"

Αυτοκράτωρ Kωνσταντίνος ΙΑ' ο Παλιολόγος

Μια Έλλάδα, Μια Φωνή...Έλληνες Παντού!

῾Σήμερα, εδώ, χτυπά η καρδιά της Ελλάδας... χιλιάδες χιλιόμετρα μακριά από την Πατρίδα, αποδεικνύουμε ότι η Ελλάδα είναι παντού! Με την παρουσία σας δείχνετε ότι οι αποστάσεις και οι ωκεανοί δεν μπορούν να μας χωρίσουν. Είμαστε πάντα κοντά. Όσα χρόνια κι αν περάσουν, είμαστε και θα μείνουμε πάντα δίπλα. Έλληνες παντού! Όπου κι αν ζούμε, κουβαλάμε μαζί μας, στην καρδιά και στο μυαλό μας, την Πατρίδα. Την Ελλάδα που αγαπάμε. Την Ελλάδα που μας ενώνει... ο Απόδημος Ελληνισμός, οι Ελληνικές Κοινότητες του Κόσμου, είναι σημαντικό, αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι του Ελληνικού Έθνους῾

Ομιλία Πρωθυπουργού κ. Κώστα Καραμανλή

Μάϊ 26 2007, Σύδνεϋ, Αυστραλίας

THE GREEK-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

PERCEPTION OF GREEKS IN THE UNITED STATES

Historically, Greeks in the United States have been viewed with mixed feelings of admiration, ridicule, puzzlement, or hate. Greeks are admired for their contributions to western civilization. Witness the seemingly standard eulogy to the contributions of the ancient Greeks in the introductory essays of numerous textbooks written in English, in almost every field of inquiry. Greeks are also seen as strange, as witnessed from the commonly used phrase "It's all Greek to me" to refer to things, events, or words that are totally incomprehensible. Although Greeks are becoming less "strange," as the American public becomes consciously multicultural, and Greeks themselves establish high-profile careers in American politics, the phrase itself was never dropped. It became, instead, well-entrenched within the English language.

As an expression, the phrase "It's all Greek to me" has become indelibly ingrained within the American subconscious. Greekness as "strangeness" serves as a reminder of the stages that Greeks had to go through before they were fully accepted as rightfully "American." Although almost a relic by now of past attitudes, and therefore seemingly of interest only to the historian and linguistic archaeologist, the phrase remains a living conveyor of ideas about the American meaning of "strangeness," and, therefore, of the original strangeness of Greeks(2).

Greeks were not only admired, envied, or misunderstood, but also discriminated against, especially during the nativist period in the early part of the twentieth century(3). This is witnessed by such historical events as discrimination against Greek laborers, the destruction of Greek businesses, and even the burning-down and expulsion of Greek communities(4). In certain parts of the country, Greeks were relegated to non-white status, more to humiliate or exclude, than to represent anything truly non-white about skin color(5).

As a result of the new immigration law of 1924, Greek immigrants were restricted to the lowest immigration quota than any other European group(6). If past immigration quotas can be used as a "discrimination index," it may be argued that since Greeks were allowed the lowest immigration quota, they were "officially" discriminated against the most. It seems reasonable to surmise that in a culture, or at a time in that culture when the dominant values are non-pluralistic, or even racist, those groups that don't fall within the favored categories of racial, ethnic, or political prototypes are likely to be treated as "second class," if not suffer direct blows in their social and political lives.

Social norms or values set the standards not only for outward behavior, but also for what counts as personally desirable. As a result, they may cause non-mainstream peoples to feel personally inadequate, misplaced, or blameworthy. The most extreme example of this is self-hate (hating the self that society denigrates or rejects). Alternatively, those who are perceived as mainstream are more likely to enjoy more social opportunities. Their social circumstances may allow for healthier, more positive perceptions of themselves, or even downright self-admiration. Likewise with the Greeks in America. When the wider culture rejected their ethnicity, so did some Greek immigrants(7). Others compensated by organizing societies with very important-sounding names, possibly more to protect their fragile egos, than because of anything truly grandiose about such societies. They appointed themselves to offices with equally aristocratic-sounding titles, often preceded with superlative epithets as if to "guarantee" their public importance (such as, "supreme" president of such and so, as opposed to merely "president"). This may show how creatively humans can overcome a culturally hostile environment by withdrawing within their own self-managed "social shells of importance," the more so, the more convinced they are that their own sense of self-worth is by far very different from how people around them perceive them. More out of desperation, feeling of isolation, or need to "belong," than verifiable historical circumstances, some Greek immigrants even attempted to trace their ancestry back to the Mayflower.(9) As American culture changed toward greater acceptance of non-Anglo cultures, partly as a result of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Greek immigrants became less likely to feel alienated in a non-Greek world.

Following the civil rights movement, Greek immigrants began changing their perception of themselves, or, more correctly, of their original Greekness For example, where before, many Greek Americans would anglicize their names usually to find employment (8), in recent years they feel less pressure to change their names to "pass" as "true" American, or get a job, or, for that matter, run for political office. Even at the political level, where Greek Americans cannot possibly rely on their strength of numbers to elect their own (since they are relatively so few); but on the wider popular appeal of their ideas or personalities, many Greek-descended American politicians have managed to succeed in recent years even in spite of the fact that they kept their original Greek names. Witness, for instance, the successful political careers of Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas, and George Stephanopoulos. Ironically, the fact that two of these, Dukakis and Tsongas, were unsuccessful in their bids for the presidency may signal that although American culture is more accepting today of non-Anglo politicians, it may not yet be as fully accepting, as those with more blatantly anglo names, or anglo-related images. In any event, contrast the success such Greek Americans have recently had, including state governorships and senate seats, to a time when having a Greek name was a handicap for getting even blue collar jobs. Many American-born Greeks today take pride in public in being Greek, as opposed to trying to "cover it up," as was often done by their forefathers.


ON THE BUSH-DUKAKIS CAMPAIGN

It has been argued that in the presidential campaign between Geroge Bush and Michael Dukakis, the Bush camp manipulated the public's distruct of "foreigners" to paint Dukakis as being not as patriotic, or "true" American, as Bush (10). Witness, for example, the conspicuous display of the American flag during the Bush campaign, connoting that Dukakis may not be a "real" American. If such analysis is true, then the Bush camp may have taken advantage of a possible Greco-phobia among an indeterminate number of Americans that still consider Greeks as essentially outsiders. In any event, the fact that such tactics may have even been attempted by the Bush campaign, is proof that at least in the minds of those who ran his campaign, the American public was not ready for a Greek American President, yet.

Whether such distrust for a Greek American president actually exists, or exists on a wide enough scale to make a difference in presidential politics, cannot be easily ascertained. There are many factors involved in making electoral decisions, only one of which is the ethnic background of the candidate. Nevertheless, the fact that the Bush camp may have capitalized on Dukakis' Greekness, however indirectly it may have done so, may provide some evidence that within the political arena, American culture hasn't changed enough to render such appeals to American nativist feelings totally futile.


THE SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGY OF ANGLO-CONFORMISM

Many immigrants came to this country when it was overwhelmingly Anglo, socially, culturally, and politically, as in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As indicated earlier, to succeed (get a job, find friends, advance socially), one felt tremendous pressure to adopt the ethnic Anglo culture. This may explain why it may have been much easier for whites to succeed, than it was for non-whites whose outlook was the least Anglo-like.

Public education was built around the "melting pot" concept(19). Translated, this meant that all cultures felt strong social pressure to "melt" inside a single "cultural pot," which happened to be largely Anglo-derived. The emphasis was on cultural homogeneity, than on cultural or linguistic pluralism. This is also seen from Noah Webster's attempts to "americanize" even the English language(20). As a result, some immigrants may have "expunged" their ethnic culture from their sense of self; others kept it barely alive through their private schools or churches, where depending on the quality of education they received, they maintained at least a semblance of their original ethnic culture.

During this process of "cultural exchange," some immigrants succeeded in becoming more "Anglo-Saxon" in a predominantly Anglo world, than the Anglos themselves were. If they were second-class citizens in the old country, because poor or oppressed, they were now determined to become Anglo to survive and succeed in an Anglo-dominated society. For example, some Greek-Americans at the time anglicized their names, avoided teaching their children Greek, or belittled the manners of the "new" immigrants(21). If immigrant experiences of Greeks and other peoples in this country prove anything, it is that some people, especially if previously oppressed, will not hesitate to sacrifice their cultural heritage to social and economic advancement.


ANGLOGREEKS

In spite of the complete cultural and ethnic "facelift" experienced by some Greek immigrants, most retained at least some memory of Greek culture. They became anglicized Hellenes, or what the author would like to refer to as "AngloGreeks." Unfortunately, some went to such length in psychologically denying their own Greek culture, that they started degrading their Greek roots. They began projecting their fear of themselves (or of their Greekness) on their fellow Greeks. For example, to further distance themselves from their Greek roots, they derogatorily referred to recent Greek immigrants as "displaced persons," or "DPs"(22).


ALBERT MEMMI ON THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF THE OPPRESSED

In his psychological study of the oppressed, Dominated Man, the philosopher-sociologist Albert Memmi showed that those who are politically oppressed risk becoming, in their struggle to gain status, just as, or even more oppressive, than their oppressors(25). In their effort to gain power, the oppressed "internalize" the values of the powerful. In fact, they may internalize the values of the dominant group so well that they, in turn, may become staunch defenders of the values of the dominant group that once oppressed them.

Memmi's analysis may be applied to Greek immigrants who were once oppressed in their own country, or in the United States. It could be argued that many Greek immigrants who converted to the Anglo culture so internalized Anglo-values that they continued defending Anglo values even if the social circumstances that had once required them to be Anglo-like to survive, had changed. They tried so hard to "assimilate" into the Anglo mainstream that they "over-internalized" the dominant Anglo culture(26). Table of Contents

GREEK CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES

As a result of the anglicization of Greek immigrants, many such immigrants may have developed a peculiarly ritualistic, or "for appearances only," Greek-American culture. These immigrants may have sacrificed the substance of Greek culture, to keeping only a Greek cultural facade, such as, church attendance, folkdances, Greek food, ethnic parades, and the like. There was no attempt made to analyze in-depth the meaning of Greek culture, or to explain its symbols, study its history, literature, or art. Such in-depth cultural plunge may have been psychologically too difficult to bear, while simultaneously trying to convert to Anglo culture--not to mention practically almost impossible in the absence of qualified scholars, or of a supportive social or political milieu. Their new "showcase" Greek culture was so devoid of careful analysis, or study of one's ethnic heritage, that it became psychologically non-threatening to Anglo-converted Greeks. In fact, one could argue that this was precisely the reason why it never went beyond scratching the surface, let alone open up a dialogue about the Greek American experience. This kind of showcase culture was also politically "safe" from an Anglo point of view, and, by extension, from the view of the completely anglicized Greeks. This is so because it lacks the ideology of a movement capable of challenging the ethnic Anglo dominance in American society(27).

THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

Some Greek immigrants may have substituted Greekness, with membership in the Greek Orthodox Church. Although strong in the Greek countryside, the Greek church was never so central in 19th and 20th centuries Greece, as it has become in the Greek-American community in the United States.(28) This may be due not only to the peculiar nature of American nativism, as explained, below; but also to the fact that at the time when many early Greek immigrants came to the United States, around the turn of the century, the Greek Orthodox Church was by far more important in their lives even in Greece, than it is to modern Greeks living in Greece today. This was particularly true to Greek immigrants coming to the U.S. directly from places still occupied by the Moslem Ottoman Turks, where historically the "enslaved" Greeks clung even closer to their churches to survive (see on-line monograph on Greek History). As modern Greece became increasingly "independent" from Ottoman control, and secular, so were later Greek immigrants more likely to value other cultural institutions, such as, universities and other types of secular cultural activities, as much, or even more, than the Greek Orthodox Church.

Since becoming a new nation, the United States has consciously and systematically promoted religious pluralism. For example, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief. This type of established religious pluralism made it easier for different religious groups to peacefully coexist and flourish, than it did for different ethnic groups to keep their secular cultures in an Anglo-dominated society. Consequently, many Greek immigrants found it much easier to maintain their religion, than to preserve their secular ethnic culture. Discouraged from maintaining their secular culture, they turned to their religion with a vengeance, building Greek churches everywhere where there were enough employed Greeks to finance them. Saloutos referred to this phenomenon in the early Greek-American community as a "mania" for church building(29). The Greek Church came to symbolize for Greek Americans the sense of belonging, which Greek society as a whole did for the Greeks living in Greece. This is why we have today the seemingly unexplainable, if not contradictory phenomenon of completely anglicized third and fourth generation Greeks zealously supporting the Greek Orthodox Church: their Church touches them as deeply, or as completely, as does one's place of birth, or even country of origin.

Many Greek immigrants channeled their love for their cultural heritage, which they felt they had to give up in an Anglo-dominated society, toward their Greek churches(30). As indicated earlier, where in the old country they loved all components of their cultural heritage about equally, depending also on when they emigrated to the U.S., social circumstances in an Anglo-dominated, but religiously pluralistic society, led them to channel their love for their ethnic heritage into support for their churches. This is why Greek churches in the United States have traditionally been more than just places of worship, they are veritable small-nations-within-a-nation, complete with Greek schools, large halls for lunches, dinners, dances, and conferences, annual festivals and ceremonies, communal and camouflaged political activities and elections, sport events and study groups, and many intricately organized youth and adult clubs with national and local officers, and even church-sponsored "Olympic games(31)."

Greek immigrants built their churches large enough to fit their culture. What the Anglo-dominated world outside denied them, their churches accepted. Unfortunately, the secular didn't always mix well with the religious, with the result being that much of the church-preserved "Greek culture" became either a "sanitized" version of their original secular culture, or degenerated into a "dead" ritual devoid of its original cultural meaning. By giving Greek culture a roof, the Greek church kept its form, much as the Greek church of the Byzantine empire had done for ancient Greek "pagan" culture, but risked destroying its substance. It is the author's view, based on his personal observations within the Greek American community(32), that much of church-preserved Greek culture is like a well-kept butterfly inside a thick exhibit glass, than it is a live movement capable of evolving, or of shaping people's lives. This is particularly true regarding controversial folk ideals, or popular literary, social, or political figures.

New waves of Greek immigrants kept testing the ability of the church to expand, to include ever more secular-based Greek cultural characteristics(33). This led inevitably to conflicts within the church between anglicized Greeks who advocated "Americanization," and therefore wanted their church to reject becoming more "Greek;" and recent Greek immigrants, who wanted their church to give them another "Greek island" in the midst of an Anglo dominated country(34). This explains why Greek churches offer many "services" which Greeks in Greece today would expect to find outside their churches, such as, education, entertainment, and business opportunities, not to mention the possibility of finding a partner for marriage(35). At the same time that recent Greek immigrants demanded a more Greek-like church, anglicized Greeks pushed for a church that embodies at least some of the more central American values, such as, conspicuous consumption, democratic elections, and business-like organization of church affairs.

During Greek American functions, priests have usually been ackowledged first, thus symbolizing the community's respect for their churches. The exception to this may be new secular-based Greek cultural groups organized by post-WWII Greek immigrants. Such groups are usually dominated by well-educated Greek Americans, many of whom hold doctoral or professional degrees, or teach in universities, and whose appreciation for church affairs is at least matched, if not exceeded, by their love for secular Greek culture(36). Apparently, the leaders of these groups never internalized the same high regard for priests, or the central role that the Greek Orthodox Church should play in the Greek American community, as did previous generations of Greek Americans(37). Instead of being heavily church-centered, such groups promote many events outside the church that need neither church approval, nor even the support of the church, such as, lecture series, cultural and artistic events, and even informal educational projects for young people (music choir, theater, and the like). We may speculate that as the United States becomes more ethnically pluralistic, meaning, more accepting of ethnic differences, Greek immigrants may find it easier to express their secular culture outside the Greek church, through secular schools, and cultural centers and organizations. Table of Contents


Endnotes

1. These excerpts are taken from a paper presented in 1989 at an international conference on the Greek-American experience, after certain revisions made in 1993 and 1998. A. Makedon, "The Social Psychology of Immigration: The Greek-American Experience." Presented at the Saloutos International Conference on the Greek-American Experience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 13, 1989. Original paper published in ERIC database, Document ED 349 201. Click on the endnote number to return to the text.

2. It may be noted here that the standardization of its meaning within the English language serves to illustrate the extent to which language is shaped by historical events, and eventually becomes another type of historical record of the human experience.Click on endnote number to return to the text.

3. John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism 1860-1925, New York: Atheneum, 1972. Helen Papanikolas has written about the lives of maiinly Cretan Greeks in Utah. See, for exmple, Papanikolas, Small Bird, Tell Me: Stories of Greek Immigrants, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press/Ohio State University Press, 1993; and Emily-George, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.Click on endnote number to return to the text.

4. Charles C. Moskos, Greek Americans: Struggle and Success, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1980. Greeks killed in Nevada in 1908, p. 16; Greek stores destroyed, Greeks singled out for intimidation by the KKK in Utah, p. 16; riot against a Greek shanty town in South Omaha, Nebraska, in 1909, pp. 16-17; hostile reception of Greek laborers in Lowell, Mass., p. 18.Click on endnote number to return to the text.

5. For example, witness the riot against Greeks in South Omaha, Nebraska, which was instigated by the fact that a Greek man was seen walking with a "white" woman. See Moskos, Greek Americans, pp. 16-17.Click on endnote number to return to the text.

6. Only 100 additional Greeks per year were allowed to enter as legal immigrants. Michael Novak, The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics: Politics and Culture in the Seventies, New York: Macmillan, 1972, p. 89; Theodore Saloutos, The Greeks in the United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1964, pp. 243-45; James A. Banks, Multiethnic Education: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1988, p. 5.Click on endnote number to return to the text.

7. "The Erosion of Hellenic Sentiment," in Saloutos, Greeks in the U.S., pp. 232-256.

8. For example, Papanikolas mentioned Yiorgis' anglicization of his Greek name to get a job as a foreman. Yorgis became George "Nelson." Emily-George, p.209.

9. See Saloutos, Greeks in U.S., p. 250.

10. Petros, Nick "(article in the process of being retrieved)"

11. See "Theories of Assimilation: Anglo-Conformity," by Milton Gordon in his book Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion, and National Origins, New York: Oxford Universiy Press, 1964, pp. 84-114. See, also, "The Nordic Jungle: Inferiority in America," Unmeltable Ethnics, pp. 72-115. Finally, in the area of Greek-American Studies, see "Erosion of Hellenic Sentiment," Greeks in the U.S., pp. 232-257.

12. The list, below, is representative of works on ethnicity in the United States. On Anglo-conformity and European immigrants, see Andrew M. Greeley, Why Can't They Be Like Us? America's White Ethnic Groups, New York: Dutton, 1975, esp. chapter 4, "Steps in Ethnic Assimilation." See also Novak, Rise of Unmeltable Ethnics; and Gordon, Assimilation in American Life. Finally, see Banks, Multiethnic Education, esp. chapter 8 on "Ethnicity and Citizenship Education;" and the following: Nathan Glazer and Daniel P. Moynihan, eds., Ethnicity: Theory and Experience, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975; and John Higham, Strangers in the Land.

13. See Saloutos, Greeks in the U.S., pp. 75, 237. Efforts by Greek-American orgnizations, esp. A.H.E.P.A., to conform to Anglo-American ideals are described by Saloutos in Greeks in the U.S., pp. 249, 251-53. See, also, Charles C. Moskos, Greek Americans, esp. chapter 2 on "Greek America Forms;" and Alice Scourby's essay "Three Generations of Greek Americans: A Study in Ethnicity," in The Greek American Community in Transition, edited by Harry J. Psomiades and Alice Scourby, New York: Pella Publishing, 1982, pp. 111-122.

14. "What Multiculturalism Should Not Be." Proceedings of the Midwest Philosophy of Education Society, 1995 and 1996. Ed. M. Oliker. Chicago, Illinois: Midwest Philosophy of Education Society, 1997, pp. 172-86. Also available on the Internet. To see it, please click here.

15. Greek Star, Sept. 8, 1988.

16. Banks, Multiethnic Education, pp. 144-45. See also Gordon, Assimilation, p. 101; and the philosophical arguments of such writers as Horace M. Kalen, Culture and Democracy in the United States, New York: Boni and Liveright, 1924; and Julius Draschler, Democracy and Assimilation, New York: Macmillan, 1920.

17. Gordon, Assimilation, pp. 139-40.

18. D. J. Palumbo, American Politics, New York: Meredith, 1973, p. 187.

19. Banks, Multiethnic Education, pp. 144-47. See, also, Colin Greer, The Great School Legend: A Revisionist Interpretation of American Public Education, New York: The Viking Press, 1973.

20. Robert L. Church, Education in the United States: An Interpretive History, New York: The Free Press, 1976, pp. 16-20.

21. Novak, Rise of Unmeltable Ethnics, esp. chapter on "Spiro Anagnostopoulos: Remembrance of Humiliations Past," pp. 116-134. See, also, Saloutos, Greeks in the U.S., chapter 4.

22. Moskos, Greek Americans, p. 60.

23. The church, which is well known in the Chicago-area Greek American community, is located in a western Chicago suburb near the intersection of highway 290 and Central Avenue.

24. Saloutos, Greeks in the U.S., chapter 3, "Early Years;" Moskos, Greek Americans, chapter 1, "The Greek Comes to America."

25. Albert Memmi, Dominated Man, New York: Continuum, 1967.

26. On the Greek immigrants' search for "respectability," see Saloutos' chapters on "The Erosion of Hellenic Sentiment" and "The Era of Respectability," Greeks in U.S., esp. pp. 237-51, 382-83.

27. At the theoretical level, the Anglo cultural dominance has been challenged by such ethnic studies scholars as Greeley, Gordon, and Novak (see preceding endnotes). See, also, Peter Schrag, The Decline of WASP, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1973.

28. On the role of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States, see Saloutos, Greeks in the U.S., chapter 5, "For God and Country;" and chapter 6, "The Greek Orthodox Church: The Beginnings." See, also, Moskos, Greek Americans, chapter 3, "The Greek American Community;" Nicon D. Patrinacos, "The Role of the Church in the Evolving Greek American Community," in Psomiades and Scourby, eds, Greek American Community. Also Thomas Burgess, Greeks in America: An Account of their Coming, Progress, Customs, Living, and Aspirations, Boston: Sherman, French, 1913, esp. chapter 7, "The Church of the Greeks;" and J. P. Xenides, The Greeks in America, New York: George H. Doran, 1922, pp. 118-135.

29. For example, during the period between 1914 and 1918, alone, sixty one new churches were organized. Greeks in U.S., pp. 128-29.

30. The author is preparing a paper on the Greek Orthodox Church, where he holds the view that the suppression of non-religious forms of ethnic identification during the American nativist movement in the early twentieth century may partly explain the founding of a large number of new Greek Orthodox churches at the time. Makedon, "The Role of the Greek Orthodox Church During the Nativist Period in the United States," under preparation.

31. Church-organized "Olympic Games" receive wide publicity in the Greek-American press in Chicago, Illinois, as in the weekly newspaper The Greek Star.

32. His involvement was largely as a professional educator, than as a "cornerstone parishioner." He has been associated, or visited Greek Orthodox parishes in the United States for approximately 25 years , including the principalship of two church-sponsored Greek American schools in Ann Arbor, michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. His involvement largely ended by 1995 to concentrate on academic pursuits.

33. See Moskos' chapter on the "New Greeks," Greek Americans, pp. 54-77.

34. See Andrew Kopan's anecdotal account of the new Greek immigrants' thirst for cultural and linguistic maintenance. Kopan, "The Historical Development of the Greek Community in Chicago: The Case for Education," unpublished monograph, esp. pp. 7-12.

35. The author even heard a mother with standing in the "philoptochos," a church women's group, advertise on the microphone to the whole parish during one of the well organized and attended church holidays, the "availability" of her daughter for marriage. Obviously, her church provided enough of a family atmosphere for her and her daughter, that she felt quite free to announce publicly some of her most intimate and burning concerns.

36. For example, within the Chicago area alone, the author became acquainted for a certain number of years with several such groups through his involvement with others since 1984 in their "establishment" or administration, or as a member attending lecture or other activities. At least two such groups were created in the late 1980s, including the midwest chapter of Krikos and the Hellenic Cultural Organization; while others, such as, the Hellenic Council of Education and the Hellenic Professional Society, had been already established some years earlier.

37. Greek Americans seem to be more church-centered, than Greeks elsewhere in the Greek diaspora. Moskos, "Greek Australians," Greek Americans, p. 153.

38. For a multicultural perspective, see "What Multiculturalism Should Not Be."

39. Banks, Multiethnic Education, esp. ch. 2, "Ethnic Revitalization Movements;" and Novak, Rise of Unmeltable Ethnics, esp. Part 3, "The New Ethnic Politics.

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Ολο αυτό το γεγονός μιάζι με Ελληνική Τραγωδία

Η τραγελαφική «Ιστορία Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας» του Γυμνασίου ξεγυμνώνει τη διαδικασία συγγραφής των σχολικών εγχειριδίων Της Ολγας Σελλα

Το βιβλίο της «Ιστορίας Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας» που από πέρυσι διδάσκεται στις τρεις τάξεις του Γυμνασίου της χώρας (φέτος και στην Κύπρο) και τυπώθηκε σε 580 χιλ. αντίτυπα, είχε όλες τις προϋποθέσεις να είναι ένα επαρκές σχολικό εγχειρίδιο. Είχε συγγραφείς τρεις γνωστούς φιλολόγους και εκπαιδευτικούς (Βαγγέλης Αθανασόπουλος, Νένα Κοκκινάκη, Πολυξένη Μπίστα)· είχε κριτές επίσης φιλολόγους και πανεπιστημιακούς (ανάμεσά τους ο και λογοτέχνης Μίμης Σουλιώτης)· είχε φιλολογικό επιμελητή (Μαρία Παπαηλιάδη)· είχε έναν άνθρωπο που όρισε το Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο ως «υπεύθυνη του μαθήματος και του υποέργου κατά τη συγγραφή» (Χρυσούλα Βέικου)· μία ακόμη εκπαιδευτικό που παρακολουθούσε τη διαδικασία συγγραφής και εκτύπωσης του έργου (Αντωνία Δημητράσκου).

Κι όμως... Ολοι αυτοί οι άνθρωποι κατάφεραν να παρουσιάσουν ένα αποτέλεσμα που προκαλεί κλαυσίγελο, αφού οι πραγματολογικές ανακρίβειες, οι ασαφείς και αδόκιμες εκφράσεις, οι λανθασμένες αντιγραφές από Ιστορίες της λογοτεχνίας κορυφαίων Ελλήνων και ξένων μελετητών (Λίνος Πολίτης, Μάριο Βίττι, Ρόντρικ Μπήτον), οι αυτοαναιρέσεις από τη μια σελίδα στην άλλη προκαλούν γέλια, θυμό και βαθιά απορία...

Ο φιλολογικός και εκπαιδευτικός κόσμος είναι ανάστατος και αντιδρά: με άρθρα σε φιλολογικά περιοδικά· με κείμενα στον Τύπο· με αναρτήσεις στο Διαδίκτυο, όπως η εξαντλητική αποδελτίωση λαθών του καθηγητή Γιώργου Ι. Λουπάση από το Γυμνάσιο Νέας Κυδωνίας Χανίων.

Συγγραφείς και κριτές

Τι συμβαίνει λοιπόν; Πώς γράφεται ένα σχολικό βιβλίο; Από ποιους ελέγχεται και με ποιες διαδικασίες; Ποιος αναλαμβάνει την παραγωγή του; Ας τα πάρουμε από την αρχή: οι υποψήφιοι συγγραφείς καταθέτουν στο Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο δείγμα και όχι το σύνολο του έργου! (Η αμοιβή για τη δουλειά τους ήταν, στην προκειμένη περίπτωση, περίπου 6.000 ευρώ καθαρά για καθέναν από τους τρεις συγγραφείς). Η πρόοδος της συγγραφής ελέγχεται από τρεις κριτές σε τακτά χρονικά διαστήματα – εδώ αμείφθηκαν με ποσό της τάξεως των 3.000 ευρώ ο καθένας. Ανάδοχος συγγραφής αναλαμβάνει με διαγωνισμό ένας εκδότης (γι’ αυτό το βιβλίο οι εκδόσεις Πατάκη) χωρίς να διασφαλίζεται όμως το καλό αποτέλεσμα από το καλό όνομα του εκδοτικού οίκου. Το οποίο, στην προκειμένη περίπτωση, ταιριάζει στη φράση: «Ωδινεν όρος και έτεκεν μυν...».

Η περίπτωση του βιβλίου «Ιστορίας Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας Α, Β και Γ Γυμνασίου» ξεγυμνώνει τη διαδικασία συγγραφής των σχολικών βιβλίων και αποκαλύπτει έναν μηχανισμό που είναι από ανεπαρκής έως σαθρός. Κάποιοι από τους υπευθύνους έφτασαν στο σημείο να ρίξουν τις ευθύνες στη... διορθώτρια.

Οι άμεσα εμπλεκόμενοι

Τι λένε οι άμεσα εμπλεκόμενοι στους οποίους απευθυνθήκαμε; Ο καθηγητής της Φιλοσοφικής Αθηνών Βαγγέλης Αθανασόπουλος διαχωρίζει τη θέση του από το κάκιστο αποτέλεσμα, χωρίς ωστόσο να εξηγεί για ποιο λόγο συγκαταλέγεται ο ίδιος ανάμεσα στους συγγραφείς. Αναγνωρίζοντας την κακή ποιότητα του βιβλίου, ο ανάδοχος εκδότης Στέφανος Πατάκης, με επιστολή προς το Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο (που γνωστοποιεί στην «Κ»), δηλώνει: «Είμαστε διατεθειμένοι να αναθέσουμε σε δικούς μας επιμελητές την ανεύρεση όλων των αβλεψιών του έργου αυτού και γενικότερα την παρακολούθηση των εργασιών αναμόρφωσής του». Είναι όμως δυνατόν μια τέτοια πλημμυρίδα λαθών, αντιφάσεων και ασαφειών να διορθωθεί;

Εντελώς διαφορετική στάση τηρεί η υπεύθυνη εκ μέρους του Παιδαγωγικού Ινστιτούτου, κ. Χρ. Βέικου, η οποία στο απαντητικό της σημείωμα στο επικριτικό άρθρο της Ελισάβετ Κοτζιά («Κ» 6/1/08) υπερασπίζεται το βιβλίο: «Θέλω μόνο να τονίσω ότι στη συγγραφική ομάδα και στην κριτική επιτροπή του βιβλίου συμμετείχαν γνωστοί και ειδικοί επιστήμονες και δάσκαλοι της Δευτεροβάθμιας και Τριτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης και ότι το περιεχόμενο και η μορφή του βιβλίου έγιναν αντικείμενο αλλεπάλληλων συσκέψεων και κριτικών διαδικασιών μέχρι την τελική έγκρισή του από τα όργανα του Παιδαγωγικού Ινστιτούτου. Αν μη τι άλλο, πρόκειται για ένα προϊόν συλλογικής και περίσκεπτης προσπάθειας» (www.alfavita.gr 10/1/08). Μάλιστα. Το αποτέλεσμα όμως, το βιβλίο Ιστορίας Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας, λέει άλλα: είτε ότι καμιά από τις διαδικασίες δεν τηρήθηκε, είτε ότι όσοι συμμετείχαν δεν έκαναν καλά τη δουλειά τους. Τέλος, ένας εκ των κριτών, ο Μίμης Σουλιώτης, αρνήθηκε οποιονδήποτε σχολιασμό.

Τρεις έγκριτοι επιστήμονες και έμπειροι στη διδασκαλία της Λογοτεχνίας απαντούν στην έρευνα της «Κ»: Ο φιλόλογος Κώστας Μπαλάσκας, επίτιμος σύμβουλος του Παιδαγωγικού Ινστιτούτου, αποκαλύπτει ότι το βιβλίο είχε απορριφθεί επί των ημερών του και υποβλήθηκε πάλι μετά την αποχώρησή του από το Π.Ι. Η καθηγήτρια Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας στο ΑΠΘ, Βενετία Αποστολίδου, η οποία επικρίνει το βιβλίο και ταυτόχρονα επισημαίνει τα ζητήματα που θέτει η διδασκαλία της Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας στην εκπαίδευση. Και ο διευθυντής της «Νέας Εστίας» υπογραμμίζει τις αδυναμίες στην έκδοση και τη διδασκαλία των σχολικών βιβλίων.

Ομάδες και ισορροπίες

Τι μπορεί να λύσει το πρόβλημα; Κάποιοι –αρκετοί– το πιστεύουν και ισχυρίζονται ότι ο θεσμός του μοναδικού βιβλίου έχει δημιουργήσει ομάδες και ισορροπίες: συγγραφέων, κριτών και εκδοτών. Και κάθε φορά που αλλάζουν τα σχολικά βιβλία, όπως συμβαίνει τώρα, εφορμούν. Με αποτελέσματα κωμικά, αλλά και οδυνηρά για την εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία.

Ανθολόγιο λαθών

- Η γαλλική ιπποτική μυθιστορία «Paris et Vienne», από την οποία ο Βιτσέντζος Κορνάρος άντλησε την υπόθεση του «Ερωτόκριτου», γράφτηκε τον 15ο αιώνα και όχι το 1847 (σ. 30).

- Η πρώτη έκδοση του «Απόκοπου» του Μπεργαδή είναι του 1509 και όχι του 1519 (σ. 28).

- Ο Βολταίρος γεννήθηκε το 1694 και όχι το 1649 (σ. 39).

- Ο Ευγένιος Βούλγαρις (1716 - 1806) και όχι (1586 - 1669) (σ. 40).

- Ο Γρηγόριος Παλαιολόγος (1793 - 1844) και όχι (1803 - 1869) (σ. 73).

- Ο στρατηγός του εθνικοαπελευθερωτικού αγώνα είναι Σπυρομήλιος ή Σπυρομίλιος Μιχαήλ (1800 - 1880) και όχι Σπήρος Μήλιος (σ. 58).

- Η απεικόνιση της Ελισάβετ Μαρτινέγκου (1801 - 1832) αποτελεί προσωπογραφία και όχι φωτογραφία (σ. 61).

- Το περιοδικό «Τα Νέα Γράμματα» (1935 - 1945) και όχι (1933 - 1944) (σ. 116).

- Ο πεζογράφος Στρατής Τσίρκας (1911 - 1980) πρωτοδημοσίευσε πριν από τον Β΄ και όχι πριν από τον Α΄ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο (σ. 156).

- Η Μαρία Ιορδανίδου πέθανε το 1989 και όχι το 1999 (σ. 155).

- Η διηγηματογραφική συλλογή της Ζυράννας Ζατέλη είναι «Περσινή αρραβωνιαστικιά» και όχι «Περισυνή αρραβωνιαστικιά» (σ. 172) και «Η μητριά πατρίδα» του Μιχάλη Γκανά είναι πεζό και όχι ποιητική συλλογή (σ. 170).

- Σύμφωνα με τη σ. 33 «Η Πανώρια» πρωτοτυπώθηκε το 1583, ενώ σύμφωνα με τη σ. 186 «Η Πανώρια» (1585 - 1600).

- Σύμφωνα με τη σ. 125 ο Στράτης Μυριβήλης προερχόταν από τη Μικρά Ασία, ενώ σύμφωνα με τη σ. 127 γεννήθηκε στη Μυτιλήνη.

- Σύμφωνα με τη σ. 159 ο Πλασκοβίτης πέθανε το 2000, ενώ σύμφωνα με τη σ. 168 το 1998.

- Σύμφωνα με τη σ. 130 «Το λεμονοδάσος» κυκλοφόρησε το 1930 και η «Eroica» το 1938, ενώ σύμφωνα με τη σ. 192 τα δύο έργα του Κοσμά Πολίτη κυκλοφόρησαν το 1931.

- Το έργο του Ιωάννου Φιλήμονος «Δοκίμιον Ιστορικόν περί της Φιλικής Εταιρείας» αποδίδεται στον φιλικό Εμμανουήλ Ξάνθο, ενώ το σωστό έτος της έκδοσής του είναι το 1834 και όχι το 1836 (σ. 58 και 188).

- Το 1944, έτος θανάτου του ποιητή Τέλλου Αγρα αναφέρεται ως «χρόνια του εμφυλίου» (σ. 111).

- Τα ποιήματα του Κ.Π. Καβάφη είναι «Κεριά» και όχι «Τα κεριά», είναι «Θερμοπύλες» και όχι «Οι Θερμοπύλες», είναι «Το Πρώτο Σκαλί» και όχι το «Πρώτο σκαλί» (σ. 105).

- Ο στίχος του Μίλτου Σαχτούρη είναι «Ας μη το κρύβουμε / διψάμε για ουρανό!» και όχι «Πάντα θα ’χουμε ανάγκη από ουρανό» (σ. 150).

- Στο Μεσαίωνα τα έπη δεν είναι δυνατόν να «περνούσαν από μια φάση προφορικότητας» (σ. 9).

- Ο Δ. Σολωμός δεν μπορεί να θαύμαζε τον Βύρωνα γιατί πήρε ενεργό μέρος στον «ελληνοαπελευθερωτικό αγώνα» (σ. 64).

- Η ποίηση του Καβάφη δεν είναι δυνατόν να «διέσπασε τα ελληνικά σύνορα» (σ. 113).

- Τα έργα του Μιχαήλ Μητσάκη δεν μπορεί να «αποτελούνται από διηγήματα και λεπτομερείς περιγραφές» (σ. 95).

- Ο Β΄ Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος δεν μπορεί να συνεχίστηκε στην Ελλάδα «με διαλείμματα μέχρι το 1949 σε μια σκληρότερη μορφή: εκείνη του εμφύλιου πολέμου» (σ. 143).

- Μετά τον Β΄ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, οι Ιταλοί νεορεαλιστές δεν μπορεί να «ζούσαν στην παρανομία (όπως ο Μοράβια), στη φυλακή (όπως ο Παβέζε) ή στην εξορία (όπως ο Κάρλο Λέβι)» (σ. 157).

Οι Κώστας Μπαλάσκας, Βενετία Αποστολίδου, Βαγγέλης Αθανασόπουλος και Σταύρος Ζουμπουλάκης κρίνουν το βιβλίο της «Ιστορίας Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας»

Κώστας Μπαλάσκας*

Αστοχο και άχρηστο βιβλίο

«Η έγκυρη κριτικός της λογοτεχνίας Ελισάβετ Κοτζιά έκρινε αυστηρά αλλά όχι άδικα τη σχολική «Ιστορία Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας» για την Α΄, Β΄ και Γ΄ Γυμνασίου («K», 6/1/08). Πρόκειται, κατά την άποψή μου, για βιβλίο άστοχο και άχρηστο. Αστοχο όχι επειδή δεν βρίσκει τον στόχο του, αλλά επειδή δεν έχει στόχο. Και άχρηστο ως μη χρήσιμο και μη χρηστικό. Δεν βοηθάει τον μαθητή ούτε να εξοικειωθεί με τη λογοτεχνία ούτε να την αγαπήσει, αντίθετα μάλιστα: βαρετό και πληκτικό καθώς είναι μπορεί να προκαλέσει απωθήσεις. Αλλά ούτε κάποια ουσιαστική γνώση προσφέρει, ικανή να λειτουργήσει ως μορφωτικό αγαθό: τυπικές πληροφορίες, δυσνόητες κρίσεις, εξειδικευμένα παραθέματα και πλήθος ονόματα, λίθοι και πλίνθοι και κέραμοι ατάκτως ερριμμένα. Εμφανής η προσπάθεια να μη μείνει κανένας παραπονεμένος. Ωστόσο από τα 260 ονόματα ποιητών και πεζογράφων, απουσιάζουν εντελώς ονόματα πρώτου μεγέθους, όπως ο Αλ. Κοτζιάς και ο Νικ. Κάσδαγλης. Απουσιάζουν επίσης ονόματα συγγραφέων που ανθολογούνται στα σχολικά Κείμενα Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας, όπως του Ψαθά, του Ν. Α. Ασλάνογλου, του Σαββόπουλου, του Σκαμπαρδώνη, για να μείνω στα πιο γνωστά. Επιπλέον υπάρχουν τα λάθη και οι αδυναμίες που σημειώνει η Ελ. Κοτζιά και γενικώς η συγγραφή του βιβλίου φαίνεται να έγινε χωρίς κάποιες αρχές, αποφάσεις, κάποια κριτήρια, κάποιους άξονες, εκτός ίσως από τον άξονα της προχειρότητας. Δεν ξέρω αν είναι το ίδιο βιβλίο που είχε υποβληθεί σε προηγούμενη προκήρυξη και είχε απορριφθεί. Νομίζω πως είναι το ίδιο και σωστά είχε απορριφθεί. Το λάθος είναι η επανυποβολή και η έγκρισή του από άλλη επιτροπή κρίσης και τελικά η κυκλοφορία ενός σχολικού βιβλίου που όχι μόνο δεν ωφελεί, αλλά βλάπτει το αδίκως ταλαιπωρούμενο μάθημα της λογοτεχνίας».

* Ο κ. Κώστας Μπαλάσκας είναι φιλόλογος, επίτιμος σύμβουλος Παιδαγωγικού Ινστιτούτου.

Σταύρος Ζουμπουλάκης*

Χωρίς έλεγχο, χωρίς δοκιμή

1ον: Θεωρώ θετικό ότι τα σχολικά βιβλία κρίνονται δημοσίως, γιατί μέχρι τώρα έχαιραν μιας κριτικής ασυλίας. Είναι τα βιβλία που διαμορφώνουν γενιές μαθητών.

2ον: Να μην είμαστε πάντα εναντίον του θεσμικού πλαισίου. Τα βιβλία πρέπει να γίνονται με αναθέσεις. Εκεί που πάσχει ο μηχανισμός είναι ότι τα όργανα του Παιδαγωγικού Ινστιτούτου δεν ασκούν τον έλεγχο. 3ον: Δεν υπάρχει χώρα στον κόσμο που τα βιβλία να πηγαίνουν κατ’ ευθείαν στους μαθητές. Γι’ αυτό υπάρχουν τα πειραματικά σχολεία, για να δοκιμάζονται οι νέοι μέθοδοι διδασκαλίας και τα νέα βιβλία.

Και τέλος, είναι απαράδεκτο καθηγητές, δάσκαλοι και μαθητές να παίρνουν τα βιβλία την ίδια μέρα. Ο δάσκαλος πρέπει να γνωρίζει εκ των προτέρων τι θα διδάξει. Οχι τη μια μέρα να παίρνει το βιβλίο και την άλλη να καλείται να το διδάξει.

* Ο κ. Σταύρος Ζουμπουλάκης είναι διευθυντής της «Νέας Εστίας».

Βενετία Αποστολίδου*

Να διδάσκεται και πώς;

Η συγγραφή μιας ιστορίας της λογοτεχνίας είναι από μόνη της ένα δύσκολο εγχείρημα και, όσο συνοπτικότερη είναι, τόσο πιο μεγάλες οι δυσκολίες. Η σχολική «Ιστορία Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας» δεν μπόρεσε να ανταποκριθεί στις απαιτήσεις του εγχειρήματος. Εχουν ήδη δημοσιευτεί αρκετά άρθρα που επισημαίνουν τόσα και τέτοια ατοπήματα και προβλήματα τα οποία καμιά παιδαγωγική σκοπιμότητα δεν μπορεί να δικαιολογήσει. Δεν θεωρώ απαραίτητο, λοιπόν, να προσθέσω εδώ τις δικές μου αντιρρήσεις και επισημάνσεις λαθών. Πολύ περισσότερο, επειδή διαβλέπω τον κίνδυνο να εξαντληθούμε συζητώντας, και πάλι, για ένα σχολικό βιβλίο, αγνοώντας τα ευρύτερα παιδαγωγικά ζητήματα σχετικά με τη διδασκαλία της λογοτεχνίας που προηγούνται αλλά και έπονται της συγγραφής του.

Συγκεκριμένα: Διδάσκεται ή πρέπει να διδάσκεται ιστορία της νεοελληνικής λογοτεχνίας στην Υποχρεωτική Εκπαίδευση; Ποιους σκοπούς εξυπηρετεί η διδασκαλία της; Αν πρέπει να διδάσκεται, με τι είδους βιβλία μπορεί να γίνει αυτό; Χρειάζεται οπωσδήποτε να γραφτεί μια σχολική ιστορία της νεοελληνικής λογοτεχνίας; Μήπως θα ήταν ωφελιμότερο για την εγγραμματοσύνη των μαθητών να ασκηθούν στη χρήση των υπαρχόντων Ιστοριών και άλλων βοηθημάτων όπως λογοτεχνικά λεξικά, ανθολογίες και εγκυκλοπαίδειες;

Τα ερωτήματα υπονοούν και τις απαντήσεις μου. Παρόλα όσα λέει το Αναλυτικό Πρόγραμμα, το μάθημα της λογοτεχνίας, με ανθολόγια που παραθέτουν απλώς χρονικά τα λογοτεχνικά κείμενα, δεν βοηθά σήμερα ούτε στο ελάχιστο στην εξοικείωση με την ιστορική εξέλιξη της λογοτεχνίας (κι αυτό το επιβεβαιώνω δεκαεπτά χρόνια τώρα διδάσκοντας ιστορία της λογοτεχνίας σε πρωτοετείς φοιτητές). Μια σχολική ιστορία της λογοτεχνίας που περιέχει αντιγραμμένη και κακοχωνεμένη γνώση δεν πρόκειται βέβαια να βελτιώσει την κατάσταση.

* Η κ. Βενετία Αποστολίδου είναι αναπληρώτρια καθηγήτρια Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας και Λογοτεχνικής Εκπαίδευσης στο Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης του ΑΠΘ.

Βαγγέλης Αθανασόπουλος*

Το ιστορικό μιας «Ιστορίας» από έναν πρωταγωνιστή

Η εξ αρχής συμφωνημένη συμβολή μου στη συγκρότηση του βιβλίου περιοριζόταν στην παραχώρηση ήδη δημοσιευμένων κειμένων μου τα οποία, επειδή δεν απευθύνονταν σε μαθητές της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης, επρόκειτο να απλοποιηθούν από τη μία εκ των δύο συγγραφέων, η οποία ουσιαστικά είχε αναλάβει το έργο της συγγραφής και σύνθεσης. Γι’ αυτό, άλλωστε, δεν συμμετείχα στις συναντήσεις των συγγραφέων με τους κριτές. Το γεγονός, επίσης, της διασκευής των κειμένων μου ίσως εξηγεί και τη συστηματική σε όλο το βιβλίο παράλειψη κάθε βιβλιογραφικής αναφοράς σε οποιοδήποτε από τα έργα μου.

Σχετικώς με την ευθύνη μου ως προς την ανάγνωση των κειμένων των άλλων (η οποία δεν ήταν μέρος της συμφωνίας μας, αλλά επιβαλλόταν για λόγους προσωπικής ασφάλειας): Μετά τη διόρθωση 32 σελίδων, που απαίτησε διπλάσιο αριθμό ωρών, καθώς και εξαιρετική υπομονή και ανασκευαστική επινοητικότητα, προειδοποίησα τον ανάδοχο εκδότη για τα προβλήματα που ήταν σοβαρότερα στο επίπεδο των μη έγκυρων διατυπώσεων (που φανέρωναν αβέβαιη γνώση και υπονόμευαν τη θετικότητα των παρεχόμενων πληροφοριών), παρά σε εκείνο των πραγματολογικών δεδομένων. Του πρότεινα, και δέχτηκε, παράλληλα με τη συγγραφή να γίνεται φιλολογική επιμέλεια από μια δοκιμασμένη σε αυτό το έργο νεοελληνίστρια. Οταν, όμως, η ουσιαστική συγγραφέας αντελήφθη τη σχετική διαδικασία, αντέδρασε βεβαιώνοντας τον ανάδοχο πως κάτι τέτοιο ήταν περιττό. Χωρίς να με ενημερώσουν διέκοψαν τη συνεργασία με τη φιλολογική επιμελήτρια. Ας σημειωθεί πως η από μέρους μου αποκατάσταση ακόμη και εκείνων των λίγων σελίδων δεν αξιοποιήθηκε, με το επιχείρημα ότι λόγω της απειρίας μου σχετικώς με τις απαιτήσεις της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης, οι επεμβάσεις μου καθιστούσαν το κείμενο δυσνόητο και μη λειτουργικό.

Τα παραπάνω αναφέρονται σε όσα έγιναν και έχουν μια συγκεκριμένη σημασία. Μια γενικότερη σημασία θα είχε η αναφορά εκείνων που δεν έγιναν, όπως είναι η αναγωγή της απλής παράθεσης των πληροφοριών σε μια δόμησή τους, μέσω της οποίας θα προτείνονταν τρόποι κατανόησης και εξήγησης της εξέλιξης του λογοτεχνικού φαινομένου μέσα στον ιστορικό χρόνο.

* Ο κ. Βαγγέλης Αθανασόπουλος είναι καθηγητής στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.

Depressive Symptoms Higher In Europe’s Latin Countries

November 01st, 2007 | Category: Depression

Among older citizens, depressive symptoms and syndromes are more prevalent in the latin countries of Europe (France Italy and Spain), than in the Germanic (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands) and Hellenic (Greece) countries. that is particularly true of symptoms related to lack of motivation, according to a new study of by 22,000 older Europeans published in the November 2007 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.


Original post by Women’s Health / Gynecology News From Medical News Today

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Comment:

As you read the above article you will notice how the British Journal of Psychiatry classifies the European Races. Next time you are asked what type of race you classify yourself, say it loud just as the article above says; the Hellenic Race.

October 28, 1940 - OXI

In the early morning hours of October 28, 1940, Italian Ambassador Emmanuel Grazzi awoke Greek Premier Ioannis Metaxas and presented him an ultimatum. Metaxas rejected the ultimatum and Italian forces invaded Greek territory from Italian-occupied Albania less than three hours later. (The anniversary of Metaxas's refusal is now a public holiday in Greece.) Mussolini launched the invasion partly to prove that Italians could match the military successes of the German Army and partly because Mussolini regarded south-eastern Europe as lying within Italy's sphere of influence.

The Greek army proved to be a more able opponent than Mussolini or his generals thought, and successfully exploited the mountainous terrain of Epirus. The Greek forces counterattacked and forced the Italians to retreat. By mid-December, the Greeks had occupied nearly one-quarter of Albania, before Italian reinforcements and the harsh winter stemmed the Greek advance. In March 1941, a major Italian counterattack partially failed and the Italian troops only reoccupied small areas around Himare and Grabova. The initial Greek defeat of the Italian invasion is considered the first Allied land victory of the Second World War, even if in the event the campaign, thanks mainly to the German intervention, resulted in a victory for the Axis.

Fifteen of the twenty one Greek divisions were deployed against the Italians, so only six divisions were facing the attack from German troops in the Metaxas Line (near the border between Greece and Yugoslavia/Bulgaria) during the first days of April. In those days, Greece received help from British Commonwealth troops, moved from Libya by orders of Churchill.

On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany came to the aid of Italy and invaded Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslav Macedonia. Greek and British Commonwealth troops fought back but were overwhelmed.

On April 20, after Greek resistance in the north had ceased, the Bulgarian Army entered Greek Thrace, with the goal of regaining its Aegean Sea outlet in Western Thrace and Eastern Macedonia. The Bulgarians occupied territory between the Strymon river and a line of demarcation running through Alexandroupoli and Svilengrad west of the Evros river.

The Greek capital Athens fell on April 27, and by June 1, after the capture of Crete, all of Greece was under Axis occupation.



The Triple Occupation
The occupation of Greece was divided between Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria. German forces occupied some strategically important areas, namely Athens, Thessaloniki with Central Macedonia, and several Aegean islands, including most of Crete. Northeastern Greece (Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace with the exception of the Evros prefecture) came under Bulgarian occupation and was annexed to Bulgaria, which had long claimed these territories. The remaining 2/3 of Greece was occupied by Italy, with the Ionian islands directly administered as Italian territories. After the Italian capitulation in September 1943, the Italian zone was taken over by the Germans, often accompanied by violence towards the Italian garrisons. There was a failed attempt by the British to take advantage of the Italian surrender to reenter the Aegean, resulting in the Battle of Leros. For Greece, the strength of the Axis occupation forces always owed more to the threat of invasion from the Allies than to active resistance.



The German occupation zone


Economic exploitation and the Great Famine
Greece suffered greatly during the Occupation. The country's weak economy had already been devastated from the 6-month long war, and to it was added the relentless economic exploitation by the Germans. Raw materials and foodstuffs were requisitioned, and the collaborationist government was forced to pay the cost of the occupation, giving rise to inflation, further exacerbated by a "war loan" Greece was forced to grant to the German Reich. Requisitions, together with the Allied blockade of Greece, the ruined state of the country's infrastructure and the emergence of a powerful and well-connected black market, resulted in the Great Famine during the winter of 1941-42 (Greek: Μεγάλος Λιμός), when an estimated 300,000 people perished. Despite aid from neutral countries like Sweden and Turkey, the overwhelming majority of foodstuff ended up in the hands of the government officials and black-market traders who used their connection to the Axis Occupation authorities to "buy" the aid from them and then sell it on to the desperate population at enormously inflated prices. The great suffering and the pressure of the exiled Greek government eventually forced the British to partially lift the blockade, and from the summer of 1942, the International Red Cross was able to distribute supplies in sufficient quantities.



Nazi atrocities

Increasing attacks by partisans in the latter years of the Occupation resulted in a number of executions and wholesale slaughter of civilians in reprisal. The most famous examples are those of the village of Kommeno (August 16, 1943) by 1.Gebirgs-Division, where 317 inhabitants were murdered and the village torched, the "Massacre of Kalavryta" (December 13, 1943), in which Wehrmacht troops of the 117th Jäger Division carried out the extermination of the entire male population and the subsequent total destruction of the town, and the "Massacre of Distomo" (June 10, 1944), where an SS Police unit looted and burned the village of Distomo in Boeotia, resulting in the deaths of 218 civilians. At the same time, in the course of the concerted anti-guerrilla campaign, hundreds of villages were systematically torched and almost one million Greeks left homeless

Two other notable but almost unknown acts of brutality were the massacres of Italian troops at the islands of Cephallonia and Kos in September 1943, during the German takeover of the Italian occupation areas. In Cephallonia, the 12,000-strong Italian 'Acqui' Division was attacked on September 13 by elements of 1.Gebirgs-Division with support from Stukas, and forced to surrender on September 21, after suffering some 1,300 casualties. The next day, the Germans began executing their prisoners and did not stop until over 4,500 Italians had been shot. The ca. 4,000 survivors were put aboard ships for the mainland, but some of them sunk after hitting mines in the Ionian Sea, where another 3,000 were lost. The Cephallonia massacre serves as the background for the novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin.



The Italian occupation zone

Greatest extent of Italian control of Mediterranean areas (within green line & dots) in 1942.
The Italians occupied the bulk of the Greek mainland and most of the islands. Although several proposals for territorial annexation had been put forward in Rome, none was actually carried out during the war. This was due to pressure from the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, and from the Germans, who were concerned of further alienating the Greek population (which was already strongly opposing the Bulgarian annexations).

Nevertheless, in the Ionian Islands, long a target of Italian expansionism, as well as in the Cyclades, the Greek civil authorities were replaced by Italians in preparation for a post-war annexation. In Epirus, the area near the Albanian border, claimed by Albanian irredentists as Chameria, where a significant Albanian minority (the Cham Albanians) existed, an Albanian High Commissioner was appointed, but no definite steps for annexation were undertaken. Another case of Italian-sponsored minority state on Greek territory was the Aromanian "Principality of Pindus" of Alchiviad Diamandi.

The Italian occupation regime was relatively mild. Unlike the Germans, they never implemented a policy of mass reprisals and protected the Jews in their zone. As they controlled most of the countryside, the Italians were the first to face the rising resistance movement in 1942-43, but failed to contain it. By mid-1943, the Resistance had managed to expel the Italian garrisons from some mountainous areas, including several towns, creating liberated zones ("Free Greece"). After the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, the Italian zone was taken over by the Germans, and German anti-partisan and anti-Semitic policies were extended to it.



The Bulgarian occupation zone
Bulgaria joined World War II siding with the Axis in an attempt to solve its "national question" and fulfill the aim of "Greater Bulgaria", especially in the area of Macedonia (where much territory was lost in the Second Balkan War) and Western Thrace (lost to Greece in the Treaty of Neuilly). Bulgaria became part of the Axis on 1 March 1941, explicitly requesting German support for its territorial claims.

The Bulgarian Army entered Greece on 20 April 1941, at the heels of the Wehrmacht and eventually occupied the whole of northeastern Greece east of the Strymon River (eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace), except for the Evros prefecture, at the border with Turkey, which was occupied by the Germans. Unlike Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, Bulgaria set out to annex the occupied territories, with the result that the Bulgarian occupation was far harsher than the Nazi and Italian ones. A massive campaign of "Bulgarisation" was launched which saw all Greek officials (mayors, school-teachers, judges, lawyers, priests, gendarmes) deported, a universal ban placed on the use of the Greek language even on a private basis, the names of towns and places changed to the forms traditional in Bulgarian, land and housing expropriated and Bulgarian settlers introduced. A spontaneous and badly organized uprising around Drama in late September 1941 was crushed by the Bulgarian Army. By late 1941, more than 100,000 Greeks had been expelled from the Bulgarian occupation zone.Eventually up to 500,000 Greeks would be expelled from the Bulgarian occupation zone

The advance of the Red Army into Bulgaria in 1944, the withdrawal of the Wehrmacht from Greece in October and the Percentages Agreement between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, meant the Bulgarian Army had to withdraw from Greek Macedonia and Thrace, leaving Greece with the difficult task of post-occupation reconstruction.



Collaboration


General Georgios Tsolakoglou, who had signed the armistice treaty with the Wehrmacht, was appointed as chief of a new Nazi puppet collaborationist regime in Athens. He was succeeded as Prime Minister of Greece by two other prominent Greek collaborators: Konstantinos Logothetopoulos first, and Ioannis Rallis second. The latter was responsible for the creation of the Greek collaborationist Security Battalions. As in other European countries, there were Greeks eager to collaborate with the occupying force. Some did so because they shared the National Socialist ideology (for instance members of ultra-nationalist political factions and parties), others because of extreme anti-Communism, and others because of opportunistic advancement. The Germans were also eager to find support from the ideologically-similar Greeks, and helped Greek fascist organizations such as the infamous EEE (Ethniki Enosis Ellas), the EKK (Ethnikon Kyriarchon Kratos), the Greek National Socialist Party (Elliniko Ethnikososialistiko Komma, EEK) led by George S. Mercouris and other minor pro-Nazi, fascist or anti-Semitic organizations such as the ESPO (Hellenic Socialist Patriotic Organization) or the Sidira Eirini ("Iron Peace").

In Nazi ideology, the Greeks were regarded as a German-friendly nation and were above Slavs in their racial scale. Adolf Hitler personally admired the ancient Greek civilization, the Spartan model and Hellenic classicism, which inspired many building and artistics endeavours in Nazi Germany. Hitler had no plans to occupy Greece either, and also resisted Italy's plans to invade Greece, which in the end were for this reason enacted without Benito Mussolini consulting Hitler. Also the fact that Greece in the 1930s had a fascist regime lead by the germanophile Ioannis Metaxas placed Greece on Hitler's list of potentially friendly nations. Furthermore, the Italians' failure to conquer Greece after their October 28, 1940 ultimatum and attack gained the Greeks the respect of Germany. For this reason Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht not to take Greek prisoners during the invasion and the consequent collapse of the front.

Resistance

However, most Greeks did not cooperate with the Nazis and chose either the path of passive acceptance or active resistance. Active Greek resistance started immediately as many Greeks fled to the hills, where a partisan movement was born. One of the most touching episodes of the early resistance took place just after the Wehrmacht reached the Acropolis on April 27. The Germans ordered the flag guard, Evzone Konstandinos Koukidis, to retire the Greek flag. The Greek soldier obeyed, but when he was done, he wrapped himself in the flag and threw himself off of the plateau where he met death. Some days later, when the Swastika banner was waving on the Acropolis' uppermost spot, two patriotic Athenian youngsters, Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climbed by night on the Acropolis and tore down the flag. It was one of the first actions of Greek resistance and among the first in Europe, and therefore inspired not only Greeks but also other Europeans under German domination.

The greatest source of partisan activity were the Communist-backed guerrilla forces, the National Liberation Front (EAM), and its military wing, the National People's Liberation Army (ELAS), which carried out operations of sabotage and guerrilla attacks against the Wehrmacht with notable success. Other resistance groups included a right-wing partisan organization, the National Republican Greek League (EDES), led by a former army officer, Colonel Napoleon Zervas a well-known Republican, and the National and Social Liberation (EKKA), led by Colonel Dimitrios Psarros, a Royalist. These groups were formed from remnants of the Hellenic Army and the conservative factions of Greek society. Starting in 1943, on a number of cases EDES and ELAS fought each other in a sort of prelude to the civil war that sprang up after the German departure in 1944. EAM alleged that EDES was aided by the German occupying forces and by the Nazi-supported puppet regimes of Tsolakoglou, Logothetopoulos and Rallis. This situation led to triangular battles among ELAS, EDES and the Germans. At the same time, ELAS attacked and destroyed Psarros' military formation, the "5/42 Evzones Regiment".

When Italy surrendered to the Allies in the fall of 1943, German forces actively hunted down and, in some cases executed, the Italian soldiers and simultaneously began serious attacks on EDES. There is evidence that Zervas then struck a deal with the German army. The right-wing partisans and Germans agreed not to attack each other. This truce left the Germans free of sabotage in some areas and allowed EDES to suppress local Communist rivals. The EDES-German truce ended in 1944, when the Germans began evacuating Greece and the British agents in Greece negotiated a ceasefire (the Plaka agreement).

Year of Greek culture starts in China

www.chinaview.cn 2007-10-18

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- "The year of Greek Culture in China" featuring an ambitious array of events was launched here to showcase both ancient Hellenic culture and modern Greece.

Opening the event here on Wednesday, Greek Culture Minister Michalis Liapis said the aim of the event was to attract global interest "by constantly presenting a flavor of Greek culture in the country which is organizing the 2008 Olympic Games".

The Minister noted that they aimed to "present the modern character and the development over history of Greek civilization to the Chinese people". He added that the Year of Greek Culture would further enhance ties between the two countries.

The event will officially begin on October 19 with a concert featuring Greek composer Stamatis Spanoudakis' new work "Alexander: Paths You Haven't Travelled" at the Beijing Poly Theater.

An exhibition, named "Classical Memories in Contemporary Greek Art", runs from October 16 to November 16 in the Beijing-based Capital Museum.

Others events include theatrical and dance performances, cinema tributes, archaeological and modern art exhibitions, opera, folk concerts, modern and popular music, conferences and book exhibitions.

The theatrical performances include classical dramas with a history of over 2000 years, like Aristophanes' comedy "The Birds" and Sophocles' tragedy "Aias".

Dance performance "Medea," whose director is also the artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, will be performed in May and June 2008.

As part of one-year long program, the Hellenic Cultural Center has been set up adjacent to Beijing's Forbidden City, and activities including exhibitions, seminars and lectures will be held there.