MACMILLAN The New Ottoman Greece in History and Fiction (Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe)

This book explores the increasing interest in the Ottoman past in contemporary Greek society and its cultural sphere. It considers how the changing geo-political balances in South-East Europe since 1989 have offered Greek society an occasion to re-examine the transition from cultural diversity in the imperial context, to efforts to homogenize culture in the subsequent national contexts. This study shows how contemporary immigration and better relations with Turkey led to new directions in historiography, fiction and popular culture in the beginning of the twenty-first century. It focuses on how narratives about cultural co-existence under Ottoman rule are used as a prism of national self-awareness and argues that the interpretations of Greece’s Ottoman legacy are part of the cultural battles over national identity and belonging. The book examines these narratives within the context of tension between East and West and, not least, Greece’s place in Europe. Review “Trine Stauning Willert presents a unique and fascinating examination of the ways contemporary Greek culture has revisited a part of Greek history that has often been ignored, erased, or subordinated by "grander" national narratives. She deftly negotiates an analysis of cultural production that is fraught with political, cultural and emotional pitfalls, and brings us to a new understanding of how the Greeks themselves have begun to come to grips with their own "unwanted" past.” (Gerasimus Katsan is Associate Professor at Queens College, City University of New York, USA) “This excellent book explores contemporary Greece’s complex relationship with its contested historical past. Trine Stauning Willert brings together memory studies, public history and Modern Greek Studies, to tell a story which becomes even more topical in a global era of radicalised attitudes against cultural diversity.” (Christina Koulouri, Panteion University, Athens, Greece) From the Back Cover This book explores the increasing interest in the Ottoman past in contemporary Greek society and its cultural sphere. It considers how the changing geo-political balances in South-East Europe since 1989 have offered Greek society an occasion to re-examine the transition from cultural diversity in the imperial context, to efforts to homogenize culture in the subsequent national contexts. This study shows how contemporary immigration and better relations with Turkey led to new directions in historiography, fiction and popular culture in the beginning of the twenty-first century. It focuses on how narratives about cultural co-existence under Ottoman rule are used as a prism of national self-awareness and argues that the interpretations of Greece’s Ottoman legacy are part of the cultural battles over national identity and belonging. The book examines these narratives within the context of tension between East and West and, not least, Greece’s place in Europe. About the Author Trine Stauning Willert is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, UK. Previously she was Assistant Professor in Modern Greek Studies at the University of Copenhagen where she was a member of the research centre ‘The Many Roads in Modernity: South-East Europe and its Ottoman Roots’.