Cultural transfer and ‘national character’

in nineteenth century Greek periodicals

Recent international research has taken an intense interest in the subject of ‘national identity’ and its definition through cultural forms, viewed especially from a comparative and theoretical framework where the issue of translation features as crucial. In this context, the 19th century, the apogee of modernity forms the subject of many and increasing international studies resulting in a re-assessment of its cultural and political significance for the 20th century. At the same time, there has been a significant rise in research into international nineteenth-century press as the nodal point of the formation of and conflict among different cultural identities and paradigms. The proposed research project further probes into periodicals and their important socio-cultural role in nineteenth century. The project is divided into the following three parts, undertaken by three research groups:

• Cultural interchanges: literary genres, aesthetic and ideological trends
• The reception of theatre genres (authors, ideological and aesthetic currents, drama theory): poetic theatre, prose theatre and music theatre
• Cross-cultural relations and transfers: National literature between the foreign and the local