Greek Presence in the late Russian Empire and the Soviet Union - literatures, cities, networks
Niovi Zampouka
Kommentar
The seminar explores historical, political, and cultural dimensions of the Greek communities within the late Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Focusing firstly on the Greek presence in the northeastern Black Sea region (Crimean Peninsula, Sea of Azov, Southern Russia, and South Caucasus), we will examine Greek literary production, print culture, and intellectual networks. Particular attention will be paid to issues of national identity formation within the context of a multicultural imperial legacy, in a region shaped by extensive processes of migration and acculturation. Additionally, the seminar will investigate how Greek diasporic communities navigated the region's major political and social transformations, including imperial decline, revolution, and the Soviet Union’s nationality policies.
In the latter part of the course, we will turn to Greek exile communities that emerged through political migration during the second half of the 20th century in the Soviet Union. Here, we will explore the academic, literary, and translation networks that developed within the framework of the Soviet 'world literature' project, with particular emphasis on important centers such as Tashkent, Moscow, and Kyiv.
Key topics of the seminar include the development of diasporic networks across urban spaces such as Odessa, Mariupol, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Sukhumi, Batumi and others; the negotiation of diasporic identity within imperial and Soviet frameworks; the Greek literature of Ukraine; the translation activity of Greek political migration; and the revival of academic engagement with Greek (minority) literature during the De-Stalinization period.
To explore these topics, we will engage with both academic scholarship and a range of artistic and archival sources—including Greek, Ukrainian, and Russian fiction, travel literature, photographic archives, and film. Students are encouraged to actively contribute to the seminar by bringing their individual interests, language skills, research ideas, and academic projects.
The Course takes place: Dorotheenstraße 65 (Boeckh-Haus), R. 5.61, 5. OG
Schließen16 Termine
Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung