Greece Between East and West looks at the central geopolitical situation of Greece, and its pivotal role in the Balkans and the Levant. The trend towards "modernisation" and "westernisation" is examined in the light of traditional values in culture, language, history and politics which reflect Greece's eastern legacy and the continuing presence of that legacy in contemporary society. It features original creative writing, an interview with a leading film-maker, provocative accounts of political and cultural agitation on the Aegean islands, aspects of Greek music and drama, plus historical...

This volume presents a number of original essays on aspects of Lawrence Durrell which have not previously been discussed. Durrell (1912-1990) was the ground-breaking author of The Alexandria Quartet, Tunc-Nunquam (The Revolt of Aphrodite) and The Avignon Quintet and of many plays, volumes of poetry and essays. This volume, by one of the world's foremost experts on Durrell's life and work, explores his early literary connections with Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Alfred Perles and David Gascoyne in topics such as surrealism and psychology. It features new insights into Durrell's approach to popular...

This original study is the first major critical appraisal of Ireland's post-colonial experience in relation to that of other emergent nations. The parallels between Ireland, India, Latin America, Africa and Europe establish bridges in literary and musical contexts which offer a unique insight into independence and freedom, and the ways in which they are articulated by emergent nations. They explore the master-servant relationship, the functions of narrative, and the concepts of nationalism, map-making, exile, schizophrenia, hybridity, magical realism and disillusion. The author offers many...

The crossing of borders and frontiers between political states and between languages and cultures continues to inhibit and bedevil the freedom of movement of both ideas and people. This book addresses the issues arising from problems of translation and communication, the understanding of identity in hyphenated cultures, the relationship between landscape and character, and the multiplex topic of gender transition. Literature as a key to identity in borderland situations is explored here, together with analyses of semiotics, narratives of madness and abjection.The volume also examines the...

730 million people-almost 10% of the world's population-inhabit islands. One quarter of the states represented at the United Nations are islands. Islands constitute almost twenty percent of the total land area of Greece, and exhibit more significant aspects of biodiversity than other global contexts. They are both occasions of triumph and occurrences of catastrophe. Islands are both open and enclosed communities, points of arrival and departure.Islands exert a fascination for the visitor and generate, in the islander, both positive and negative mindsets. The romantic fallacies about...