Political and Cultural Aspects of Greek Exoticism

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction: Framing Greek Exoticism. History and the Current Crisis

   • Panayis Panagiotopoulos, Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos

   Pages 1-8

3. Exoticism Lasts a Long Time. Philhellenism and Other Historical Constructions of Greece

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9

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   2. Historical Patterns of Greek Exoticism (Nineteenth–Twentieth Century)

      • Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos

      Pages 11-25

   3. The European Origins of the Great Idea

      • Vicky Karafoulidou

      Pages 27-38

   4. Perceptions of Antiquity and Modernity. Greece in the Eyes of Her Allies, 1946–2018

      • Dimitrios Antoniou, Zinovia Lialiouti

      Pages 39-50

4. Radical Anticapitalism and Social Deconstruction During the Greek Crisis

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 51-51

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   2. Demodernise Greece. Sociological Critique on the Construction of an Alternative Country

      • Panayis Panagiotopoulos

      Pages 53-67

   3. Cradle of Solidarity and Philoxenia. Exotic Distortions of the Greek Migration Crisis

      • Yiorgos Rakkas

      Pages 69-80

   4. Zorba the Greek. From the “Syrtaki” Dance to the Eurogroup

      • Kostas Karavidas, Yiannis Papatheodorou

      Pages 81-93

   5. “Spoiled Brats” or “Anti-capitalist Pioneers”. Turkish Views of the Greek Crisis

      • Ioannis N. Grigoriadis

      Pages 95-104

5. Ruins and Artistic Exoticism. Greece as a Cultural Arcadia of the West

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 105-105

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   2. Crisis, Exoticism and the Rediscovery of Greece

      • Dimitris Tziovas

      Pages 107-123

   3. The Cornucopia of Greekness: Copies and Performances of a Body That Never Was

      • Despina Sevasti

      Pages 125-138

   4. Self-Exoticism, the Iconography of Crisis and the Greek Weird Wave

      • Afroditi Nikolaidou

      Pages 139-151

   5. Athens, an Alternative City. Graffiti and Radical Tourism

      • Vassilis Vamvakas

      Pages 153-166

6. Back Matter

   Pages 167-170

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This book explores the new Greek exoticism by examining political and cultural mechanisms that contribute to Greece’s image and self-image construction. The contributions shed light on the subject from different perspectives, including political science, history of ideas, sociology, cultural studies, and art criticism. In the first part, the book provides a historical review with a focus on philhellenism, perceptions of antiquity and modernity, and the evolution of Greece as an idea. The second part looks at the current Greek crisis and analyses ideological, political and cultural aspects and stereotypes that contributed to the formation of contemporary Greek culture. The third and final part discusses notions such as aestheticism, idealism and pragmaticism, and deconstructs narrations of Greece through artistic media, such as films and exhibitions, which present a new oriental Utopia.

• anti-capitalism
• Greek crisis
• philhellenism
• geopolitics
• European history
• Greek history
• nationalism
• identity politics
• European Union
• NATO
• cultural sociology
• modern Greek society
• refugee crisis
• urban sociology
• Eurozone crisis
• modernisation
• migration
• Greek literature
• Greekness
• street art

“Foreigners have exoticized the Greeks as everything from the illustrious forbears of the West to the deadbeat miscreants of Europe. In this welcome book Greek scholars dissect the fictions of philhellenism, zorbaism, and poverty porn in chapters presenting eye-opening examples encased in adventurous analysis. These qualities make the book indispensable for anyone seeking a critical understanding of Greece.” (Charles Stewart, University College London, UK, and author of Dreaming and Historical Consciousness in Island Greece)

“Due to the sovereign debt crisis a multitude of sensibilities emerged as to how other Europeans apprehend Greeks and how the latter view themselves. This ingenious and timely collection confers added value to the hitherto analyses of Greece-under-crisis by deciphering undercurrent meaning-making processes shaped by crypt-colonial and orientalist stereotypes and myths in an interplay of inside-out, bottom-up, and top-down perspectives.” (Nicolas Demertzis, Professor of Political Sociology and Communication, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Director & President of the National Centre for Social Research, Greece)

• Department of Political Science and Public Administration, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

  Panayis Panagiotopoulos

• Department of Administration and Economy, University of Peloponnese, Kalamata, Greece

  Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos

Panayis Panagiotopoulos is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos is Associate Professor of Contemporary History & Politics at the University of Peloponnese, Greece, and Editor-in-Chief of the Nea Hestia journal.

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