Maria Koundoura – författare

Greece today finds itself caught on a turbulent edge of Europe, yet both high culture and popular myth have long placed Greece as a locus of Western civilisation, reinforced by English travellers' 'discovery' of Greece in the late-eighteenth century and the impact this had on English Literature. Opening up fresh avenues of discourse, Maria Koundoura maps what this dual representation signifies for Greeks, both national and diasporic. In doing so, she touches on twentieth-century diaspora cultures from Europe to the United States, offering a new critical paradigm from which to explore national and transnational identities. Koundoura deftly draws upon postcolonial theory to address and analyse the cultural material that has produced Greece's representation as both 'European' and 'other'.

How do those living in diaspora form their own national and transnational identity? "The Greek Idea" offers a new critical paradigm from which to explore these identities. Drawing upon postcolonial theory, Maria Koundoura addresses and analyses the cultural material that produced Greece's representation as both Europe's origin and 'other'. The long association of Greece and English Literature began with English travellers' 'discovery' of Greece in the late-eighteenth century and the reinforcement of the myth which placed Greece as the location of Western culture. However Greece now finds itself on the boundary of a Europe which had originally placed it at the centre. Koundoura maps what this dual representation signifies for Greeks, both national and diasporic. In doing so, she touches on England, Greece, the United States, Australia and twentieth century diaspora cultures. For scholars of postcolonial, English, European, Balkan, Modern Greek, and Diaspora studies this fascinating contribution to the growing area of transnational culture studies opens up the critical discourse in their field.

Globalization, it seems, either holds the promise of new horizons and new worlds, or trammels local cultures and produces uniformity. Here, Maria Koundoura strikes a singular path between these divergent views and maps the full terrain of our contemporary culture landscape. Reading world literature and engaging with contemporary critical methodologies, she explores what she calls transnational visions of language and culture, and analyses the politics of identity, representation and cultural expression. She thus presents a history of the aesthetic of our moment in modernity, and situates that moment in the economics of the global culture market and the ethics of cultural translation. Offering a model for addressing key questions of contemporary culture, identity and globalization, this book will be invaluable for all those interested in cultural and postcolonial studies, diaspora and globalization studies, as well as world literature.