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Athens—Ancient and Modern: Athens in the Twenty-First Century

Athens—Ancient and Modern: Athens in the Twenty-First Century ATHENS— ANCIENT AND MODERN Opening Ceremony of the Athens Olympics of 2004 in the stadium designed by Santiago Calatrava. ATHENS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Marina Kotzamani S ituated at the Eastern tip of Europe, modern Greece has partaken of both Eastern and Western cultural elements. The presence of an Eastern heritage along with a Western heritage has been notoriously difficult to negotiate for Greeks. In modern times, Greece became a state in 1834, having been under the Ottoman Empire for four hundred years. Since its inception, the modern Greek state has been anxious to claim a position in the European family. To this end it has strongly emphasized its hereditary, cultural, and material connection to ancient Greece, the cradle of Western civilization. Identifying modern with ancient Greece and establishing continuity between ancient and modern culture has been the most significant ideological project of the modern state and instrumental in forging national identity. This effort has had pervasive influence on all aspects of Greek life from the nineteenth century to the present. Establishing historical continuity for Greek civilization has also largely involved homogenizing it and purging it of vibrant Eastern elements, primarily those associated with folk and popular arts. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art MIT Press

Athens—Ancient and Modern: Athens in the Twenty-First Century

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Publisher
MIT Press
Copyright
© 2009 Marina Kotzamani
ISSN
1520-281X
eISSN
1537-9477
DOI
10.1162/pajj.2009.31.2.11
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

ATHENS— ANCIENT AND MODERN Opening Ceremony of the Athens Olympics of 2004 in the stadium designed by Santiago Calatrava. ATHENS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Marina Kotzamani S ituated at the Eastern tip of Europe, modern Greece has partaken of both Eastern and Western cultural elements. The presence of an Eastern heritage along with a Western heritage has been notoriously difficult to negotiate for Greeks. In modern times, Greece became a state in 1834, having been under the Ottoman Empire for four hundred years. Since its inception, the modern Greek state has been anxious to claim a position in the European family. To this end it has strongly emphasized its hereditary, cultural, and material connection to ancient Greece, the cradle of Western civilization. Identifying modern with ancient Greece and establishing continuity between ancient and modern culture has been the most significant ideological project of the modern state and instrumental in forging national identity. This effort has had pervasive influence on all aspects of Greek life from the nineteenth century to the present. Establishing historical continuity for Greek civilization has also largely involved homogenizing it and purging it of vibrant Eastern elements, primarily those associated with folk and popular arts.

Journal

PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art – MIT Press

Published: May 1, 2009

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