Journal of Modern Greek Studies
In Focus: Volume 30, Number 1, May 2012
A Message From the Editor
The examination of the political, economic, cultural and artistic changes in Greece goes beyond the pages of the Journal of Modern Greek Studies. This page will allow readers a chance to access a rich collection of supplementary material accompanying each issue.
This space allows readers a chance to watch videos, see photos or listen to audio selections which expand on the essays in each semiannual issue. The interdisciplinary nature of the diverse content and rich subject matter within the Journal creates many possibilities for authors to go beyond the printed word. Check back often as we find new and exciting ways to investigate our shared passions.
Table of Contents
Articles
- Karen Emmerich, Re-imagining “Image” in the Poetry of Miltos Sachtouris
- Kostas Boyiopoulos, The Darkening of the Mirror: Cavafy’s Variations on The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Taso G. Lagos, Poor Greek to “Scandalous” Hollywood Mogul: Alexander Pantages and the Anti-Immigrant Narratives of William Randolph Hearst’s Los Angeles Examiner
- Diane O’Rourke, Three Greek Women: The Insignificance of an Appliance
- Violetta Hionidou, “Abroad I was Greek and in Greece I am a Foreigner”:
Pontic Greeks from Former Soviet Union in Greece
Review Essay
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Sarah Ekdawi, “Definitive Voices of the Loved Dead”: Cavafy in English
Book Reviews
- Gail Holst-Warhaft: Dina Amanatides, trans. Konstandina Dounis, Dreams of Clay Drops of Dew: Selected Poems; Eleni Frangouli-Nickas, Athina and her Daughters: A Memoir of Two Worlds; Vasso Kalamaras, Expatriates: Contemporary Australian Tales; Antigone Kefala, Sydney Journals: Reflections 1970–2000; Nick Trakakis, ed., Southern Sun, Aegean Light: Poetry of Second-Generation Greek-Australians
- Penelope Papailias: Yiorgos Anagnostou, Contours of White Ethnicity: Popular Ethnography and the Making of Usable Pasts in Greek America
- Nicholas Alexiou: Dan Georgakas. My Detroit: Growing up Greek and American in Motor City
- Elizabeth Arseniou: Marinos Pourgouris, Mediterranean Modernisms: The Poetic Metaphysics of Odysseus Elytis
- Emmanuela Kantzia: Effie Rentzou, Littérature malgré elle.
Le Surréalisme et la transformation du littéraire
The Darkening of the Mirror: Cavafy’s Variations on The Picture of Dorian Gray
Although parallels between Oscar Wilde and C. P. Cavafy have been drawn, the
influence of Wilde on Cavafy remains underexplored. The Picture of Dorian
Gray offers an iconography that would have suited Cavafy’s mind-set given
his existential-aesthetic anxieties regarding art and the beauty of youth. As a
reader of Wilde’s novel, Cavafy modulates his poetic strategies on the Dorian
Gray myth in a number of poems featuring young men through, and along
with, proxies of likeness. Cavafy’s anxiety about aging and vain self-image
serve as clues when investigating how the Dorian Gray myth informs the
poet’s texts. His lyrics are memory capsules of beauty whose temporal decay is
similar to photographic (over)development, in the manner of Dorian’s portrait.
Cavafy explores variations of Wilde’s triangulation of the self in the artist, the model, and the artwork, often affected by decay. He amalgamates the desire for homoerotic consummation with narcissistic mirroring. In their attempt to halt aging, his speakers narcissistically assume the form of the youthful males with whom they are infatuated.
Related Links
- The Official Website of the Cavafy Archive
- Cavafy’s World
- The Oscar Wilde Society (established 1990)
- The Official Website of Oscar Wilde
“Abroad I was Greek and in Greece I am a Foreigner”: Pontic Greeks from Former Soviet Union in Greece
Listen to an interview by author Violetta Hionidou for this article, which focuses on Greek identity in the Soviet Union.
In Focus Archive
Journal of Modern Greek Studies Journal of Modern Greek Studies is the official journal of the Modern Greek Studies Association. Volume: 30 (2012)Frequency: Semiannually Print ISSN: 0738-1727 Online ISSN: 1086-3265 |
