MACMILLAN Greece in Early English Travel Writing, 1596–1682 (New Transculturalisms, 1400–1800)

This book examines the letters, diaries, and published accounts of English and Scottish travelers to Greece in the seventeenth century, a time of growing interest in ancient texts and the Ottoman Empire. Through these early encounters, this book analyzes the travelers’ construction of Greece in the early modern Mediterranean world and shows how travel became a means of collecting and disseminating knowledge about ancient sites. Focusing on the mobility and exchange of people, artifacts, texts, and opinions between the two countries, it argues that the presence of Britons in Greece and of Greeks in England aroused interest not only in Hellenic antiquity, but also in Greece’s contemporary geopolitical role. Exploring myth, perception, and trope with clarity and precision, this book offers new insight into the connections between Greece, the Ottoman Empire, and the West. Review “In this important book, Efterpi Mitsi considers in detail for the first time how early modern English and Scottish travel writers ‘deformed’ the country whose culture formed them. In the process she exposes the curiously fragmented vision with which they scrutinized Greece through the lens of antiquity, yet with an eye to present and future possibilities. Mitsi’s monograph makes a major contribution to our understanding of what she calls the ‘troubled genre’ of travel writing in the seventeenth century.” (Robert Maslen, Senior Lecturer, English Literature School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow, Scotland) “Efterpi Mitsi's Greece in Early English Travel Writing, 1596–1682 makes a key critical contribution not only to our growing knowledge of Renaissance travel writing, but it also urges us to nuance even further our understanding of the Ottoman empire and the complexity of its relations with early modern Europe.” (Andrew Hiscock, Bangor University, Wales, and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow, Montpellier III, France) From the Back Cover This book examines the letters, diaries, and published accounts of English and Scottish travelers to Greece in the seventeenth century, a time of growing interest in ancient texts and the Ottoman Empire. Through these early encounters, this book analyzes the travelers’ construction of Greece in the early modern Mediterranean world and shows how travel became a means of collecting and disseminating knowledge about ancient sites. Focusing on the mobility and exchange of people, artifacts, texts, and opinions between the two countries, it argues that the presence of Britons in Greece and of Greeks in England aroused interest not only in Hellenic antiquity, but also in Greece’s contemporary geopolitical role. Exploring myth, perception, and trope with clarity and precision, this book offers new insight into the connections between Greece, the Ottoman Empire, and the West. About the Author Efterpi Mitsi is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.