Asia Minor and the Events of 1922 in Greek Literature

Authors:

Pages: 105-113
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/QJLN6799

Abstract:

A century has passed since the Asia Minor Disaster of 1922, an event that tragically marked the modern history of Greece. The purpose of the article is to give a brief but comprehensive historical review, necessary for the understanding of social and political developments, as well as to shed light on this important aspect of the specific historical period by providing answers to the following questions: how life in Asia Minor is reflected; representation of the Catastrophe of 1922 and the refugees in Greek literature? The contribution of the Generation of the ‘30s to the whole project is important because most of its representatives were from Asia Minor and they had experienced the events mentioned above. This is an important multitude of authors in both poetry and prose who do not belong to any school because each of them maintains their own peculiarity and they made their appearance in modern Greek letters around 1930, with some earlier and others – later. They created a different literary generation of their own whose contribution was decisive mainly in the renewal of modern Greek prose and in supporting the vernacular in the modern Greek language. The mention of the refugee issue in the national historical narrative and the recounting of the events of the Asia Minor Catastrophe are processes in which Greek literature, through the Generation of the ‘30s, played an important role. It contributed substantially to the ultimate acceptance of the special and different identity of the refugees by the Greek society and to their gradual integration into the national body.

Keywords:

Asia Minor; Catastrophe of 1922; refugees; Greek literature; Generation of the ‘30s.

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