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Poetics and Histories: To What Extent Did C. P. Cavafy Alter Historical Narratives, and for What Artistic Purposes?

stuident Name: Joseph Watson Module Lecturer: Dr Dimitra Tzanidaki-Kreps Date of Submission: 11/01/2016

Poetics and Histories: To What Extent Did C. P. Cavafy Alter Historical Narratives, and for What Artistic Purposes?

The form of Dramatic Monologue as perfected by Ritsos’ poetry.

Yannis Ritsos is widely regarded as one of the most significant figures in contemporary Greek poetry. He managed to revolutionise the idea of a dramatic monologue and create not just beautiful poetry, but also a multifaceted art form that has depth on psychological, social, and philosophical levels throughout all of his publications. The dramatic monologue form was popularised by Victorian poets such as Robert Browning, but Ritsos revitalised it and many poets to this day still use his style as inspiration. His ability to construct identities and characters that the reader can genuinely sense and almost experience is skilful.

The form of Dramatic Monologue as perfected by Ritsos’ poetry.

Discuss the portrayal and effects of loss in the poetry of Cavafy

My Mother's Sin and Other Stories A series of lectures on Modern Greek literature taught by Dr Dimitra Tzanidaki-Kreps This is a first class essay of one of my students, Jenny Wight, who took my course this year writing beautifully on the effects of loss in Cavafy's poetry.

Discuss the portrayal and effects of loss in the poetry of Cavafy

In Ritsos’ Moonlight Sonata what sentiments does the woman’s confession provoke/inspire to you and how these compare to the ones felt by the young man who remains silent throughout her long monologue.

Yannis Ritsos' "Moonlight Sonata" is a poignant and emotionally charged poem that presents a deeply intimate monologue of a woman speaking to a silent young man. The setting is night, with the moonlight casting a dreamlike atmosphere over the scene. The woman's confession, filled with personal revelations, memories, and emotions, evokes a variety of sentiments in the reader and provokes a complex response.

In Ritsos’ Moonlight Sonata what sentiments does the woman’s confession provoke/inspire to you and how these compare to the ones felt by the young man who remains silent throughout her long monologue.

Theatricality, didacticism, prosaic verse, use of persons as symbols, contemplative mood, flashbacks are some of Cavafy’s recurring ‘tropes’. Discuss.

Within the vast poetry collection of Constantine Cavafy, arguably, a pattern of recurring tropes emerges, offering the readers an in depth understanding of what defines his artistry. The poems that I have chosen for this essay being Young Men of Sidon, Alexandrian Kings and Kaisarion, from his book The Collected poems. One might say that they serve as an example of Cavafy’s gravitation towards an array of literary devices such as theatricality, didacticism, prosaic verse, use of persons as symbols, contemplative mood and flashbacks, one might say that they create a narrative that extends beyond the individual poems, inviting us to explore the timeless themes captured by Cavafy.

Theatricality, didacticism, prosaic verse, use of persons as symbols, contemplative mood, flashbacks are some of Cavafy’s recurring ‘tropes’. Discuss.

How does Seferis’ mythical method interact with Greece’s lasting socio-political issues?

Seferis uses the mythical method in his poetry to allude to and comment upon social and political issues in Greece in his lifetime. Before discussing his poetry, it is important to define what is meant by Seferis’ mythical method. This method can be described as allusive, as although Seferis does make direct references to myth he does so in inventive ways, for example by using narrative space, symbols and characters to evoke Greek myths.

How does Seferis’ mythical method interact with Greece’s lasting socio-political issues?

«Examine how homoerotic love is expressed in Cavafy’s erotic poetry» By Yousuf Danawi, Reading University

This essay aims to examine the manner in which homoerotic love is expressed in Constantine Peter Cavafy’s erotic poetry.Initially, it will provide a brief introduction entailing contextual information. Subsequently, this essay will bestow an intricate analysis of his erotic poems, with a particular focus on elucidating recurrent themes pertaining tohomoerotic love. The analysis will explore both the formal and thematic constituents of Cavafy’s erotic poetry, accompanied by a pervading extraction of deeper meaning.This examination will be enhanced utilising relevant secondary literature. The primary source that consists of the poems to be discussed in this essay derives from a digital anthology that comprises Cavafy’s ‘Recognised’, ‘Denounced’, and ‘Hidden’ poems

 «Examine how homoerotic love is expressed in Cavafy’s erotic poetry» By Yousuf Danawi, Reading University

ἐξ ἐρίων δὴ καὶ κλωστήρων καὶ ἀτράκτων

This essay examines that metaphor in the context of the political and war situation at the time Lysistrata was first performed. It considers traditional gender roles in the fifth-century Greek polis and Lysistrata’s inversion of those roles in her weaving analogy. Aristophanes’ comedic purpose in the weaving speech, in Lysistrata as a whole, and more generally across his corpus is examined. In addition, some observations are made about the sound pattern of Lysistrata’s speech and, in a personal argument, a speculative suggestion is advanced that the audience might have associated her cadences with the familiar rhythms of a domestic weaving loom.

ἐξ ἐρίων δὴ καὶ κλωστήρων καὶ ἀτράκτων

Discuss the portrayal and effects of loss in the poetry of Cavafy

My Mother's Sin and Other Stories A series of lectures on Modern Greek literature taught by Dr Dimitra Tzanidaki-Kreps This is a first class essay of one of my students, Jenny Wight, who took my course this year writing beautifully on the effects of loss in Cavafy's poetry.

Discuss the portrayal and effects of loss in the poetry of Cavafy

Hyperion or the hermit in Greece

Concept, dramaturgy and performance by Dimitra Kreps

Hyperion or the hermit in Greece

Στόχοι και διδασκαλία.

Θα ήθελα σε αυτή την επικοινωνία μου να ξεκινήσω από την επιστολή της Μαρίας Χάρενμπεκ, γιατί νομίζω ότι θέτει με σαφήνεια τα προβλήματα που αναφύονται κατά τη διδασκαλία της Ελληνικής ως ξένης γλώσσας. Η γνώση δε των προβλημάτων είναι ένα βήμα προς την επίλυσή τους. Είναι, λοιπόν, β α σ ι κ ό τ α τ η προϋπόθεση να ξέρουμε σε ποιους απευθυνόμαστε. Συγκεκριμένα: ποιοι μαθαίνουν ελληνικά, γιατί μαθαίνουν, τι επίπεδο γλωσσικής επάρκειας διαθέτουν; Αλλά και ποιοι είναι οι δικοί μας στόχοι, ημών των διδασκόντων. Ίσως φαίνομαι απόλυτη ή "παραδοσιακή", ίσως να "φταίει" το γερμανικό περιβάλλον, αλλά δεν μπορώ να δεχθώ αβασάνιστα γενικόλογες προτάσεις από αυτές που κυκλοφορούν στο δικτυακό μας τόπο. Καλά για παράδειγμα τα κόμικς, αλλά προϋποθέτουν καλή γνώση τις γλώσσας και ίσως ενδιαφέρουν ένα Α κοινό. Οι δικοί μου φοιτητές έχουν πολύ συγκεκριμένες απαιτήσεις, που ορίζονται άλλωστε από τον Κανονισμό Διδασκαλίας του Τομέα Εφαρμοσμένης Γλωσσολογίας, γιατί όταν τελειώσουν τα 2 πρώτα εξάμηνα θα πάρουν το Zertifikat, που σημαίνει συγκεκριμένη γνώση και επικοινωνιακή ικανότητα, γραπτή και προφορική (επιστολές, επικοινωνία για καθημερινές ανάγκες, διάφοροι ρόλοι)). Ανάλογος προγραμματισμός υπάρχει και για τα επόμενα επίπεδα. Κατόπιν αυτών αναρωτιέμαι και προτείνω μήπως θα πρέπει στις Φρυκτωρίες να υπάρξει μια κατηγοριοποίηση στόχων και διδακτικών προτάσεων ώστε να μην χάνουμε πολύτιμο χρόνο διαβάζοντας προτάσεις που για κάποιους είναι χρήσιμες ενώ για άλλους αναποτελεσματικές. Ό,τι κάνω εγώ δεν αφορά τους συναδέλφους που δουλεύουν με διαφορετικές συνθήκες και ό,τι κάνουν αυτοί ίσως είναι πολύ μακριά από τις δικές μου ανάγκες. Εκτός και αν θέλουμε απλώς να διακινούνται απόψεις γενικές, ορισμένες φορές και αόριστες, με σκοπό μόνο την επικοινωνία. Από κει και πέρα, επειδή βλέπω και σοβαρές προτάσεις κυρίως στο Ηλεκτονικό Εργαστήριο, προτείνω μια άλλη διαμόρφωση του δικτυακού τόπου έτσι ώστε να φθάνω εύκολα σε αυτό που με ενδιαφέρει και όχι ύστερα από χρονοβόρα περιπλάνηση σε κείμενα με περιορισμένη χρησιμότητα. Βέβαια το λέω εγώ αυτό, γιατί οι 16 ώρες μόνο διδασκαλίας δεν μου αφήνουν πολλά περιθώρια για...περιπλανήσεις. Ας έχουμε επομένως σελίδες επικοινωνίας και σελίδες συγκεκριμένων διδακτικών προτάσεων. Γιατί τώρα που, ευτυχώς , γίναμε πολλοί, η περιπλάνηση κοστίζει... Δεν ξέρω πόσο εφικτά είναι αυτά που προτείνω, αλλά τα θέτω στην κρίση σας.

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