This present dissertation explores how domestic political power struggles in Greece and Turkey during the Cold War engaged with the ongoing conflict in Cyprus. Furthermore, it demonstrates how... Show moreThis present dissertation explores how domestic political power struggles in Greece and Turkey during the Cold War engaged with the ongoing conflict in Cyprus. Furthermore, it demonstrates how political parties in both states used – and often maintained – the unsettled and contentious legal positioning of Cyprus in order to reinforce their own political prowess domestically and vis-à-vis one another. In so doing, the thesis traces how socialist and left-leaning parties in Greece and Turkey developed into nationalist ones, and their relation with nationalism in general, adopting ideologies that in effect claimed Cyprus as their own. After presenting a lengthy and analytical account of the Greek and Turkish legal socialist parties and their political agenda, focusing not only on Cyprus but in domestic and international affairs also, the study moves with an explorative contrast and comparisons between the two parties. In five comparative chapters, the study aims to demonstrate how socialist parties in Greece and Turkey struggled with the concept of the “nation” in battling for power and political positioning within their own capitals. Show less
This dissertation explores the appropriation of Greek antiquity by Byzantine scholars in Renaissance Italy. The Byzantines had traditionally seen themselves as Romans, yet Byzantine scholars in... Show moreThis dissertation explores the appropriation of Greek antiquity by Byzantine scholars in Renaissance Italy. The Byzantines had traditionally seen themselves as Romans, yet Byzantine scholars in Italy claimed to be the descendants of the ancient Greeks. This study explains for what reasons these scholars changed their traditional self-image and charts the rhetorical strategies with which they substantiated their new claim. The first part of the study shows that their distinctively Greek self-representation had been prefigured in 15th-century Byzantium and was stimulated by humanist bias and stereotypes in Italy. Whereas Hellenism remained suspect in Byzantium, ‘being Greek’ could be socially advantageous in the context of Italian humanism. The second part of the dissertation offers four case studies dealing with the self-representation of, chiefly, Bessarion, George Trapezuntius of Crete, Janus Lascaris, and Johannes Gemistus. Exploring a variegated range of underexposed sources in Greek, Latin, and Italian, these chapters show how Byzantine scholars in different contexts used notions such as cultural ownership, ethnic kinship, and territoriality to authenticate their claim that they were the legitimate heirs and descendants of the ancient Greeks. The case-studies also illustrate how (post-)Byzantines could use this claim to advance their social and political agendas in Italy. Show less
By applying a fieldwork-based, geoarchaeological approach, Tourloukis examines in this study the evidence from Greece within the framework of the earliest occupation of Europe. Although the Greek... Show moreBy applying a fieldwork-based, geoarchaeological approach, Tourloukis examines in this study the evidence from Greece within the framework of the earliest occupation of Europe. Although the Greek Peninsula lies within a core area of early hominin movements between Africa and Europe but also within Eurasia itself, the Lower Palaeolithic record of Greece remains as yet extremely poor. Chossing the scanty Greek record as a case-study, Tourloukis elaborates on a hitherto largely overlooked subject in the Eurasian Early-Middle Pleistocene archaeology: the role of geomorphic processes in biasing archaeological distribution patterns of early human presence. This study identifies the current status of the record, explains this status from a geoarchaeological and geomorphological perspective, and prospects its future enrichment. The analysis is carried-out on a landscape-scale and it assesses preservation potential in conjuction with archaeological visibility. Finally a conceptual model emerges that can assist in interpreting and/or predicting early Palaeolithic site locations in tectonically active settings, such as those of the Mediterranean Basin. Show less
Greek whisky is a historical ethnography of alcohol consumption that explores several facets of contemporary Greek culture. The focus of the study is on the “social life” of Scotch whisky in Greece... Show moreGreek whisky is a historical ethnography of alcohol consumption that explores several facets of contemporary Greek culture. The focus of the study is on the “social life” of Scotch whisky in Greece and more specifically on three distinct trajectories of the beverage. The analysis of the mediascapes of the Greek cultural industry, the Athenian nightlife and entertainment and the North Aegean island drinking habits, aims in the examination of the localization process of Scotch in these spaces. While several studies in Greece have focused on the consumption of Greek-produced alcoholic beverages, imported beverages—and especially Scotch whisky—have been neglected. By “following the thing” the study seeks to link several key concepts such as popular culture, consumption and style. In opposition to views of global cultural homogenization as monoculture, the author argues that consumption as cultural appropriation is a process of meaning creation by consumers, multinational corporations and the cultural industry. Furthermore the localization of a commodity is not only understood as an act of consumption and a form of making oneself ‘at home’ as a result of the impersonal realm of commodity production. Localization is a major arena of negotiation of gender and group styles and more importantly a tactical practice. Show less
Il y a un demi-siècle, le chercheur sénégalais Cheikh Anta Diop posait la question de la négritude de l'Égypte et de l'antériorité des civilisations nègres. Aujourd'hui, c'est de l'Amérique du... Show moreIl y a un demi-siècle, le chercheur sénégalais Cheikh Anta Diop posait la question de la négritude de l'Égypte et de l'antériorité des civilisations nègres. Aujourd'hui, c'est de l'Amérique du Nord que nous viennent les échos d'une telle contestation de l'histoire écrite par les Blancs. La réécriture du passé des Africains, vu à la lumière de l'Égypte pharaonique, suscite une relecture du passé européen. Les humanités gréco-latines se voient opposer des humanités négro-égyptiennes. Toute l'historiographie savante est donc soupçonnée d'un complot planétaire contre les peuples noirs, dont elle aurait dérobé l'héritage culturel pour mieux les asservir. Cette science dite eurocentriste est donc défiée par une histoire afrocentriste du monde. L'objet de cet ouvrage est de mieux connaître l'argumentation de ce courant, d'en discuter les sources et les méthodes, d'en comprendre les motivations et d'en analyser les réseaux. Les auteurs viennent de tous horizons et de plusieurs disciplines (histoire, égyptologie, linguistique, anthropologie, philosophie, sciences politiques). Les contributions sont regroupées en quatre parties: 1. Un nouvel africanisme? (contributions de: François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Paul Cartledge, Clarence Walker, Henry Tourneux, Agnès Lainé); 2. Au commencement était l'Égypte (Wim van Binsbergen, Béatrix Midant-Reynes, Pascal Vernus, Marc Étienne); 3. Projections dans le passé (Bernard Ortiz de Montellano, Jean-Pierre Chrétien, Stephen Howe); 4. Réseaux et métamorphoses (Vittorio Morabito, Pino Schirripa, Christine Douxami, Stella Vincenot, Lydia Samarbakhsh-Liberge). Show less
In 1987 and 1991 Martin Bernal published two volumes on the Afroasiatic roots of classical civilization. His theory that ancient Greek culture derived from Egypt and Phoenicia opened a discussion... Show moreIn 1987 and 1991 Martin Bernal published two volumes on the Afroasiatic roots of classical civilization. His theory that ancient Greek culture derived from Egypt and Phoenicia opened a discussion known as the debate on 'Black Athena'. This article sorts out whatever lasting contribution Bernal has made to classical archaeology. In 'Black Athena' Bernal described how one particular view of ancient Greek history has served Eurocentric interests. But his own alternative serves other ideological interests, viz. the rapprochement to Afrocentrism. According to Bernal, the name of the Greek goddess Athena derived from the ancient Egyptian Ht Nt, "temple of Neith". Even though Bernal's etymology has been effectively refuted on the grounds of historical linguistics, the iconographic and semantic details which Bernal adduces make it quite conceivable that the link between Athena and Neith was more than superficial. The present author suggests, however, that Neith and Athena both derive from a common prototype which, throughout the ancient eastern Mediterranean, has produced Great Goddesses with connotations of underworld, death, violence and rebirth. Such a view - although inspired by Bernal - effectively explodes the Black Athena thesis, since it dissolves the very contradiction between Indo-European and Afroasiatic as the source of Aegean civilization, and draws on a common substratum which cannot readily be relegated to an African provenance. In conclusion, the present author advocates continued research in the spirit of Martin Bernal, with vastly increased personal, disciplinary, financial and temporal resources. (A shorter French version of this article is published in: Afrocentrismes : l'histoire des Africains entre Égypte et Amérique / sous la dir. de François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Jean-Pierre Chrétien et Claude-Hélène Perrot. - Paris : Karthala, 2000, p. 127-150.) Show less
On June 28, 1996, a conference was held at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, on controversies originating from Martin Bernal's study 'Black Athena: the Afro-Asiatic roots of classical... Show moreOn June 28, 1996, a conference was held at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, on controversies originating from Martin Bernal's study 'Black Athena: the Afro-Asiatic roots of classical civilization' (1987, 1991). Papers were presented by Wim van Binsbergen, Martin Bernal, Jan Best, Arno Egberts, and Josine H. Blok. The present publication is an edited versions of Wim van Binsbergen's paper. Show less
On June 28, 1996, a conference was held at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, on controversies originating from Martin Bernal's study 'Black Athena: the Afro-Asiatic roots of classical... Show moreOn June 28, 1996, a conference was held at the African Studies Centre, Leiden, on controversies originating from Martin Bernal's study 'Black Athena: the Afro-Asiatic roots of classical civilization' (1987, 1991). Papers were presented by Wim van Binsbergen, Martin Bernal, Jan Best, Arno Egberts, and Josine H. Blok. The present publication contains edited versions of these papers, as well as responses by Martin Bernal Show less
Martin Bernal's 'Black Athena' has evoked three kinds of reaction: scholarly evaluation of the historical evidence for Bernal's claims, both of Ancient Europe's indebtedness to West Asia and... Show moreMartin Bernal's 'Black Athena' has evoked three kinds of reaction: scholarly evaluation of the historical evidence for Bernal's claims, both of Ancient Europe's indebtedness to West Asia and Northeast Africa, and of the construction in recent centuries of the Greek miracle as a Eurocentric, racialist myth; appropriation of the Bernal thesis by African-American and African intellectuals in the process of identity construction and in the politics of global knowledge production as a counterforce to Eurocentrism and scholarly racism; and critical scholarly extrapolation of the Bernal thesis with regard to African material beyond ancient Egypt. Arguing that origin is not to be equated with subsequent local transformation and performance in maturity, the present author posits that a different mode of thinking about cultural dynamics and interdependence is required. Two case studies tracing the geographical distribution and probable diffusion of geomantic divination and mancala board games since the 16th century, suggest that it is a typical pattern of African cultural history to see active early participation in global cultural flows, followed by subsequent 'cultural involution' and the loss of virtually all trace of an earlier intercontinental exchange. The unit of analysis is civilizations; 'Africa', the continent, is not a viable unit of analysis in this connection. Notes, ref., sum. in French (p. 100) Show less
