Fremdes „Europa“: Verlockung und Gefahr. Zur Wahrnehmung „Europas“ in Griechenland in popularen Märchenheften
“Europe”: dangerous–attractive–strange! The perception of “Europe” in Greek chapbooks (late 19th–early 20th cent.)

Summary/Abstract: In Greece, the perception of “Europe” was at the centre of attention not only in many 19th century literary works and in the discourse of the elite, but also in many thousands of popular chapbooks. Even chapbooks containing (fairy) tales treated “Europe”, and they did so in a highly ambivalent manner. European cities were depicted negatively as dangerous places of corruption, greed and moral decay, while, on the other hand, “Europe” was presented as attractive because it offered financial or personal opportunities. In addition, the chapbooks presented an amusing and strange image of Europe by portraying direct contacts with Western foreigners and first encounters with European goods and habits, e.g. the piano or table-manners. The analysis of the tale chapbooks can help clarify the Greek images of “Europe” in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, images which are relevant until today.

• Details
• Contents