Greece And The New Balkans

With the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and a pending NATO membership bid, an old conflict between Greece and Macedonia has taken on added significance for the international community. Greece has vehemently argued, particularly in the West, that the name Macedonia was in fact Greek and that its use by this new nation in the Balkans portended Macedonia’s expansionist ambitions. The Macedonians bitterly disputed this, noting that Alexander the Great was a Macedonian, and adducing many other fascinating and rational arguments. Tensions were said to have been reduced by an interim agreement between the two countries, but the attempted assassination of Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov in October 1995 has again heightened hostility in the area. The genesis of the conflict is detailed here, as well as the modern day events that have led many observers to believe that the area is a flashpoint for a major war, greater than that in Bosnia.

This volume brings together young researchers in an interdisciplinary study of Greek interaction with other Balkan states over the past two hundred years. The thirteen chapters of the volume reflect the diversity of a long and complex relationship between Greece and its Balkan neighbours. They thus shed refreshing light on its persistent attributes of opportunity and risk, attraction and enmity, exchange and exclusion, through exploration of historical, anthropological, literary, political and economic perspectives.

Greece and the Balkans explores the cultural relationships between Greece and other Balkan countries in the domains of language, literature, thought, translation, and music, and examines issues of identity and perception among the Balkan peoples themselves. The essays bring together scholars from across a range of disciplines: historians, anthropologists, linguists and musicologists with specialists on literature, translation, the history of ideas and religion. By raising issues of cultural hybridity, and nationalist or pre-nationalist interpretations of culture and history it lays claim to a place in the context of studies on nationalism and post-colonialism. Greece and the Balkans also contributes to a recognition of the Balkans as a site, like some postcolonial ones, where identities have become fused, orientalism and eurocentrism blurred and where religion and modernity clashed and co-existed. By approaching cultural encounters between Greece and the Balkans from a fresh and informed perspective, it makes a substantial contribution to the study of a rather neglected aspect in the history of a region which has suffered in the past from narrow-minded, nationalistic arguments.

Our perception of Greece conjures up many potent images: an ancient civilization brought alive by fable, hillsides dotted with sunbaked villages, lazy beaches lapped by crystal blue waters, the warmth and humour of its people. Yet if we look behind the picture-postcard imagery, the painful contradictions of the country begin to emerge. James Pettifer's classic text on Greece, now revised and updated with extensive new material, argues that it is vital to understand this country's present by looking at the far-reaching effects of its troubled past. He surveys the roots of Greek social, economic and political realities with intelligence and convincing clarity.

Greece and the Balkans explores the cultural relationships between Greece and other Balkan countries in the domains of language, literature, thought, translation, and music, and examines issues of identity and perception among the Balkan peoples themselves. The essays bring together scholars from across a range of disciplines: historians, anthropologists, linguists and musicologists with specialists on literature, translation, the history of ideas and religion. By raising issues of cultural hybridity, and nationalist or pre-nationalist interpretations of culture and history it lays claim to a place in the context of studies on nationalism and post-colonialism. Greece and the Balkans also contributes to a recognition of the Balkans as a site, like some postcolonial ones, where identities have become fused, orientalism and eurocentrism blurred and where religion and modernity clashed and co-existed. By approaching cultural encounters between Greece and the Balkans from a fresh and informed perspective, it makes a substantial contribution to the study of a rather neglected aspect in the history of a region which has suffered in the past from narrow-minded, nationalistic arguments.

No detailed description available for "The Balkan Exchange of Minorities and Its Impact Upon Greece".