From the Greek Revolution of 1821 to the Metapolitefsi: Historiographical Debates in Greece across Two Centuries

Nowadays, with the celebration of the Greek state’s bicentennial, the exploration of how the national past was debated, historicised and narrated through historiographical and political means holds an interesting position: by examining how certain pasts entered the national canon, how events and figures were pantheonised, and how history and memory wars were conducted, we may be able to assess why and how nation-states commemorate themselves and formulate narratives about the shared past. Using the past as a symbolic resource, the agents of political and social power seek to provide the definitive version of how and why did we arrive at the present. Simultaneously, these official versions of the past are constantly contested by opposing social forces, which frequently manage to have their versions merge with, incorporated into or stand alongside those of their opponents. It is through these procedures, namely historiographical debates such as these explored in this issue of Historein, that the past turns into history.

Leda Papastefanaki, Η φλέβα της γης: Τα μεταλλεία της Ελλάδας, 19ος–20ός αιώνας [The vein of the earth: The mines of Greece, 19th–20th centuries]

Review of Leda Papastefanaki. Η φλέβα της γης: Τα μεταλλεία της Ελλάδας, 19ος–20ός αιώνας [The vein of the earth: The mines of Greece, 19th–20th centuries]. Athens: Vivliorama, 2017. 392 pp.

Stratos N. Dordanas and Nikos Papanastasiou, eds., Ο «μακρύς» ελληνογερμανικός εικοστός αιώνας: Οι μαύρες σκιές στην ιστορία των διμερών σχέσεων [The “long” Greek-German twentieth century: The dark shadows in the history of the bilateral relationships]

Review of Stratos N. Dordanas and Nikos Papanastasiou, eds. Ο «μακρύς» ελληνογερμανικός εικοστός αιώνας: Οι μαύρες σκιές στην ιστορία των διμερών σχέσεων [The “long” Greek-German twentieth century: The dark shadows in the history of the bilateral relationships]. Thessaloniki: Epikentro, 2018. 488 pp.

Konstantina Zanou, Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean, 1800–1850: Stammering the Nation

Review of Konstantina Zanou. Transnational Patriotism in the Mediterranean, 1800–1850: Stammering the Nation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. 272 pp.

David Vincent, A History of Solitude

Review of David Vincent. A History of Solitude. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2020. 341 pp.

Mathieu Grenet, La fabrique communautaire: Les Grecs à Venise, Livourne et Marseille, 1770–1840

Review of Mathieu Grenet. La fabrique communautaire: Les Grecs à Venise, Livourne et Marseille, 1770–1840. Athens: École française d’Athènes; Rome: École française de Rome and, 2016. 456 pp.

Anna Matthaiou, Οικογένεια και σεξουαλικότητα: Μεταξύ παράδοσης και νεωτερικότητας (ελληνικές μαρτυρίες, 17ος–αρχές 19ου αι.) [Family and sexuality: Between tradition and modernity (Greek testimonies, 17th–early 19th centuries)]

Review of Anna Matthaiou. Οικογένεια και σεξουαλικότητα: Μεταξύ παράδοσης και νεωτερικότητας (ελληνικές μαρτυρίες, 17ος–αρχές 19ου αι.) [Family and sexuality: Between tradition and modernity (Greek testimonies, 17th–early 19th centuries)]. Athens: Melissa, 2019. 276 pp.

Who is the Historian? The Formation of Modern Greek History and the Historical Community in the Short Twentieth Century

The position of historian emerged as a distinct academic and professional field in Greece in the last quarter of the 20th century. In an attempt to explore this “delay” in comparison to Western European countries, this article offers an overview of the making of the field of modern Greek history during the twentieth century. Starting from the gradual acknowledgment of the autonomy of modern Greek history in relation to classical and Byzantine studies, the article traces its evolution and its close ties to political and social developments. The prevalence of historical positivism and philological principles, along with the dominance of the ideology of national continuity – the latter enriched through the postwar ideologies of national-mindedness and anticommunism – led to the persistence of the “historian-philologist” until 1974. The fall of the military dictatorship in 1974, which marked the end of the post-Greek Civil War era, was a catalyst for the flowering of modern Greek studies and the formation of a small but distinct community of historians, who regularly intervened in the public sphere.

Giorgos Antoniou and A. Dirk Moses, eds., The Holocaust in Greece

Review of Giorgos Antoniou and A. Dirk Moses, eds. The Holocaust in Greece.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. xv + 378 pp.

Vassilis Asimakopoulos and Chrysanthos Tassis, eds., ΠΑΣΟΚ 1974-2018: Πολιτική οργάνωση – Ιδεολογικές μετατοπίσεις – Κυβερνητικές μεταβολές [PASOK, 1974-2018: political organisation, ideological shifts, government policies]

Review of Vassilis Asimakopoulos and Chrysanthos Tassis, eds. ΠΑΣΟΚ 1974-2018: Πολιτική οργάνωση – Ιδεολογικές μετατοπίσεις – Κυβερνητικές μεταβολές[PASOK, 1974-2018: political organisation, ideological shifts, government policies]. Athens: Gutenberg, 2018. 822 pp.