Papadiamandis and Homer: A Note

Abstract

Meaningful allusion to the classics in Papadiamandis's work is not a matter of the text's being stuffed with overt classical references. In his early novels we find a large number of, as it were, classical one-liners: essentially undigested – or at best opportunistic – allusions. The technique is a less focused form of Roidis's in Pope Joan; perhaps a closer comparison is Kalligas's Thanos Vlekas, which is replete with Homeric allusions and puns, none of them integral to the narrative. Similarly, we find in early Papadiamandis a disorderly collection of allusions: Byron, Milton, Aesop, Sophocles, Juvenal, Homer et al.; and sometimes we see his allusiveness to be a mere tic of style rather than fully purposive. In other words, .it is as true here as elsewhere in Greek literary tradition that we need to sift meaningful from more or less chance allusion.     

The poetry of nationalism*

The poetry of nationalism has roots in ancient literature, particularly the Hebrew Bible, but is mostly a product of nationalism since the French Revolution. Many national poets are politically active and serve in government. Asserting artistic individuality, they express national individuality, though nationalism can also suppress creativity. Calling for moral regeneration, poets inspire their people with memories of heroism, real or imagined, and with myths unique to the nation. Their poetry often springs from defeat but anticipates national liberation and independence. Yet there is also a dark side to some national poets, particularly in their glorification of violence and lust for revenge against oppressors. National poetry changed after the failed revolutions of 1848–9. National poets were less inclined to believe in liberal ideals and progress toward universal goals and there was greater disillusionment and ambiguity toward the national role. World War I severely limited the militarist tendency in national poetry.     

The avatars of modern poetry

This paper examines the reactions to the British labour unrest of 1910–1914 among the writers associated with two Edwardian periodicals, the Catholic Distributivist New Witness, and the advanced socialist New Age. Both papers were thrown into sympathy with the strikes whether through libertarianism, hatred of capitalism or the glorification of violence and struggle. This prompted theoretical discussions on the future organisation of labour in which liberty and consensus were precariously balanced, and mediated through elitism. By examining the contested and ambiguous origins of guild socialism, the paper draws tentative conclusions about its troubled legacy.     

The reception of Solomos: national poetry and the question of lyricism

Abstract

Through the reception of Solomos, this paper explores the tension between the lyric and the narrative, and the extent to which the roles of national and lyric poet are compatible. The critical reception of Solomos demonstrates that his recognition as a lyric poet was not on an equal footing with his presentation as a national one. It shows that his joint treatment as the national poet of Greece and its greatest lyric poet is problematic and not convincingly argued. It also argues that Solomos's reception can be summarized as the conflict between the historical and the aesthetic approaches.     

哈斯金斯与“12世纪文艺复兴”

本文首先评析哈斯金斯《12世纪文艺复兴》的主要内容 ,认为该书资料丰富、翔实 ,体现了历史主义思想 ,动摇了“中世纪黑暗说” ,推动了欧洲中世纪史的研究 ;其次评介该书自 192 7年问世以来西方史学界对“12世纪文艺复兴”现象的研究 ,对其中一批标志性成果 ,中国史学工作者应予以重视。     

哈斯金斯与“12世纪文艺复业”

本首先评析哈斯金斯《12世纪艺复兴》的主要内容,认为该书资料丰富、翔实,体现了历史主义思想,动摇了“中世纪黑暗说”,推动了欧洲中世纪史的研究;其次评介该书自1927年问世以来西方史学界对“12世纪艺复兴”现象的研究,对其中一批标志性成果,中国史学工作应予以重视。     

Dividing Homer (continued): Innovation vs. Tradition in Homer - an Overlooked Piece of Evidence

In Homeric studies, the evidence of metrics has often been overlooked. The authors argue that the hexameter must be a recent development, closely bound up with the transition from an Aeolic to a Ionic phase in the development of the epic diction. The Ionic phase must have been very short, and the rise of the Iliad is probably also to be situated at the very moment of change in meter and dialect.     

《全宋诗》补59首

宋人乐语和致语中的附诗被称为“口号”,它是宋人诗歌创作中的重要组成部分。《全宋诗》作为一部宋代诗歌全集,收入了大量宋人乐语和致语中的口号,然亦有疏漏之处。本文从宋人别集中辑录了59首口号,作为对《全宋诗》的补遗。     

我的诗词研究之路

此文是本刊的特约稿。作者刘扬忠是中国社科学文学研究所学术委员会委员,中国古代文学研究室主任、研究员、博士导师《文学遗产》杂志编委会委员,中国作家协会会员、中国宋代文学学会副会长、中国李清照辛弃疾学会副会长等。     

The Invention of History: The Pre‐History of a Concept from Homer to Herodotus

The following pages, which deal with the pre‐history of the concept of history from Homer to Herodotus, first propose to decenter and historicize the Greek experience. After briefly presenting earlier and different experiences, they focus on three figures: the soothsayer, the bard, and the historian. Starting from a series of Mesopotamian oracles (known as “historical oracles” because they make use in the apodosis of the perfect and not the future tense), they question the relations between divination and history, conceived as two, certainly different, sciences of the past, but which share the same intellectual space in the hands of the same specialists. The Greek choices were different. Their historiography presupposes the epic, which played the role of a generative matrix. Herodotus wished to rival Homer; what he ultimately became was Herodotus. Writing dominates; prose replaces verse; the Muse, who sees and knows everything, is no longer around. So I would suggest understanding the emblematic word “historia” as a subsititute, which operates as an analogue of the (previous) omnivision of the Muse. But before that, Herodotean “invention”— the meeting of Odysseus and the bard Demodocus, where for the first time the fall of Troy is told—can be seen as the beginning, poetically speaking at least, of the category of history.     

The presence of Sikelianos in the poetry of George Seferis

Abstract

Echoes of Sike1ianos' poetry can be detected in many poets, but his presence in Seferis is particularly interesting in the light of the close personal relationship which developed between the two poets from the 1940s. The poetic dialogue starts with Seferis' Στρo?η (1931) and develops continuously until his last book of poems, Tρια Kρυ?? Φoιημα&tauα (1966). Seferis, attracted by Sikelianos' linguistic richness, recreates the older poet's words ingeniously in his search for a new poetics. I examine this dialogue chronologically to show that exploring the presence of Sikelianos in Seferis' poetry enhances the understanding of the younger poet and reveals that, however great the differences in matters of technique between the two poets, their attitudes to poetry and poetics are in the end closely related.