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The Balkan nations in 19th century Greek Literature- National portraits
Alexandros Rizos-Ragavis
Georgios Tertsetis
Georgios Martinelis
Images of the Balkans
Fourth Lesson
Lecturer: Petros Marazopoulos
petrosmarazopoulos@gmail.com
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Period of Interest (1821- 1890)
• From the early 19th century to 1890
• The Greek ‘exploratory’ word of the period- A discourse of exploration towards the
Balkan nations
• Categorizing the Balkan nations into potential enemies or potential allies
• Main topics: describing a nation (appearance, character and way of life), religion,
comparison with Greece, the common struggle for Independence
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Does the term ‘Balkan’
has a concrete form in
the early 19th century?
Different Images for
every Balkan nation/
Same function of these
images
The gradual unification
of the term ‘Balkan’
Images of the Balkans and Images of the Balkan nations
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The term ‘Balkan’ in the 19th century
▪ Period of interest- From the foundation of the Modern Greek Kingdom to the period of
preparation of the Balkan Wars
▪ The adjective ''Balkan'' was used in Modern Greek as a loan from the Franks, already
decades ago
▪ Progressively, the term ''Balkans'' appears in the Greek press before 1890 becoming
standardized during the Balkan Wars
▪ The usage of the term comes together with a concrete tendency (Greece’s exclusion of
the Balkans)
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The 19th century in the Balkan Peninsula: A historical
Introduction
• The birth and rise of Balkan nationalist movements
• The gradual formation of the Balkan nation-states, the Independence movements and the
gradual collapse of the Ottoman Empire
• As early as the second half of the 18th century, the need for national liberation was clearly visible
on the Balkan horizon
• Strong involvement of the European Great Powers in the Balkans should not be underestimated
• The independent states of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia were largely the creation of the
Great Powers, remaining under their control for a considerable period of time
• Fluid and intense political and military framework
• Greek interest in the Balkans rises. Why?
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General characteristics of the texts under examination
• Historical, political, anthropological and social studies concern the bulk of the works
discussed # relatively few literary texts
• Limited literary production and the importance of travel literature
• Which countries have the most images? Why?
• Texts about Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia and, to a lesser extent, Montenegro, Romania
• Exploratory discourse and varying national images
• Concrete stereotypical references to the Balkan nations, which will prove to be extremely
resistant to time
• The birth of an imaginary idea. Greece and West vs Balkans and East
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Travel Literature- describing and imagining a place
▪ Travel literature as a literary genre
▪ Travel impressions were a particularly popular literary genre in Europe during the
19th century, especially for British readers:
▪ Transporting the reader to an unknown place
▪ Narration, mystery and exoticism.
▪ Mystery novel and the area of the Balkans
▪ The author's personal perspective
▪ Reflections of values and culture
▪ Religious, political, social, economic and autobiographical issues
▪ Describing and inventing a reality
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Georgios Tertsetis- ‘What I saw during my four-month tour’
• Georgios Tertsetis belongs to the Ionian school
• ‘What I saw on my four-month tour,’: the author's tour of a number of European countries
in the summer of 1858 (Milan, Trieste, Vienna, Munich, Edinburgh, Strasbourg, Paris, London,
Manchester and Montenegro)
• Direct or implied comparisons between Western Europe and Montenegro
• The relationship of the Balkans and Europe as a motif
• Separating Balkan and European civilization
• Western civilization and the Balkan reality (references to states of law, social, political
and economic welfare and progress, respect for human beings VS Balkan structures,
primitivism and rough roads of Montenegro)
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The images of Montenegro. Between politics, romanticism
and national interests
• Tertsetsis: Far being disappointed by Montenegro and its inhabitants, he is fascinated by the heroism of the
Montenegrin nation
• Enthusiastic portrayals of the Montenegrins
• The image of the Montenegrin ruler Daniel
• Honesty, heroism, warlike character
• The reasons behind these images
• Common religion as a pattern
• The Montenegrins’ admiration about Greece’s Revolution against the Ottoman Empire
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The images of Montenegro. Between politics, romanticism
and national interests
• Balkan admiration and the Greek “superiority complex”- A first parameter
• The support on the Montenegrins' struggle for independence and the image of a friendly nation.
• The common goal of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire. Politics, ideology and national images in literature
• Travel memoirs, political aspirations and national interests
• Romantic depictions of the Montenegrins. A European, romantic motif
• Heroism, struggle for freedom, beautiful nature, grandiose mountains
• The image of the Turk as enemy Vs the friendly Montenegrin nation
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What I saw during my fouth-month tour
Shall I tell you how I was received by the brave warrior of Montenegro; I was not worth so much;[...]
we raised our glasses to Christendom[...] How shall I describe to you the young, enriched by the gifts
of Athena? I only tell you, so great is her grace and beauty, that even if she were to furnish the
embroidered girdle of Aphrodite, as told by Homer, she would be no more beautiful than what I
thought. [...] I confess to you, gentlemen of the audience, that whether from my morning discussions
with Daniel, or from the war-song, my heart was so enlarged, I felt such a power [...] If you ask,
gentlemen, about my age in the mountains of Montenegro, I was eighteen years old, not yet
nineteen, arriving in Cetinje. I stood there speechless at what I saw before me- the eight cannons, five
thousand rifles numbered, the swords of the Pasha, their proud steeds, the golden reins, and hanging
medals of the English, French, Ottoman, and the Crimean army.
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The ode of Georgios Martinelis
• In 1878 the Ionian Poet George Martinelis publishes in a bilingual - Greek and French - edition, the ode The
Heroes of Montenegro
• Ode as a literary genre
• Heroism, modesty and virtue of the ruler-The bravery of his people
• The evident Greek support for the Montengrins' struggle for national independence.
• The image of Montenegro as the bulwark of Europe against the invasion of the barbarians from the 14th
century
• The creation of a literary image. Describing a heroic nation (fighting spirit, warlike character, love for freedom)
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The ode of Georgios Martinelis
• Τhe idea of the war and the Montenegrins
• A people familiar from childhood with the idea of war
• A nation ‘obligated’ to be heroic
• The Ottoman threat of the East. Constructing an ally
• Idealizing the Montenegrins (unselfish spirit, bandit way of live and the role of the European texts)
• The consolidation of a positive image (end of 19th century)
• Montenegro begins to be perceived in Greece as a 'romantic country’
• Greek images for Montenegro (based on concrete facts?)
• Literary images of the Montenegrin Other and the political context of the time
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Images of the Montenegrins (Montenegrin-Ottoman War
1876-1878)
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The ode of Georgios Martinelis
• Historical relations between two nationalities at a certain point in time and the literary image
• ‘’The construction of the image of the 'other' is a complex phenomenon, formed through a process
largely explained by the political and social reality of nation states‘’.
• Historical reality and the positive image of Montenegro
• The contrast to the 'barbaric’ and 'oriental’ Turkish nation
• A potential ally and the Balkan Peninsula against the Ottoman Empire
• The myth of an ‘Invincible’ and ‘glorious’ race
• Martinellis’ ode, the Balkan unification and Rigas Feraios’ vision
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The heroes of Montenegro
In those proud mountains,
The flag of the enemy never rose
Every citizen knows,
To live there independent, or to die there.
There, the children dream of battles in their sleep.
Turkey fought to punish for centuries this bravery […]
Everybody's saying it. […]
And they run, so as to bring Freedom to other people
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Alexandros Rizos Ragkavis- Memoirs
One day my father took me with him in such a place. I remember the
bodyguards who magnificently guarded the carriage, and the bows of the
pedestrians who we met [...]. My father sometimes included me in the original
council for the pleasure of my curiosity, and placed me near him in the place
appointed for him.
When he had first brought me in, he showed me in the back of the vast hall a
throne set apart for the Lord; [...] Then there was a sound of barbarous music,
composed of drums and strains, and the voice of the preachers announced
the coming of the Lord. [...] And the Lord wore his official uniform, that is to say,
his silver cloak, and on his head, a high cylindrical cap made of precious
leather (which was also worn -but on official days only- by the ministers)
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Πέτρος Μαραζόπουλος
petrosmarazopoulos@gmail.com
Οκτώβριος 2024