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Symposium of the MA Programme 'English Language, Linguistics and Translation', Specialization 'Linguistic Theory and Applications', Course 'Translation and Intercultural Communication'.
Invited Speaker: Prof. Maria Efthymiou (Department of History and Archaeology, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens).
Venue: Drakopoulos Amphitheatre, University central Building, Panepistimiou 30, Athens.
INVITED TALK:
Καθηγήτρια κα Μαρία Ευθυμίου
Ο Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης υπήρξε εμβληματική φυσιογνωμία του Αγώνα του '21 και καίριος πρωταγωνιστής της σύγκρουσης 'πολιτικών'/'στρατιωτικών' που οδήγησε σε Εμφύλιο Πόλεμο φέρνοντας την Επανάσταση στο χείλος της καταστροφής. Μετά τη νίκη του στα Δερβενάκια, τον Ιούλιο του 1822, το κύρος του βρέθηκε στα ύψη αγιοποιούμενος μεταξύ των απλών ανθρώπων της Πελοποννήσου. Επιχειρώντας να ελέγξει και πολιτικά την Επανάσταση, πρωταγωνίστησε στους δύο εμφυλίους πολέμους (β' μισό του 1823 -αρχές του 1825), ηττώμενος κατά κράτος και στους δύο.
Georgia Psychogyiou and Marianna Tritou
This study focuses on instances of betrayal in Kolokotronis’ Memoirs. The analysis uses trust theory to examine trust violation οn subjugated Greek territory. McKnight and Chervany (2000) combined trust-related characteristics and created four second-order conceptual categories, which correspond to the elements of competence, predictability, benevolence and integrity. The study reverses McKnight and Chervany’s model to categorize instances of trust-violation, as manifested in the Memoirs. It uses both quantitative and qualitative criteria to show that the mostly discussed trust-violation instance in the Memoirs is the conceptual category of benevolence, while the least encountered category is related to competence. Findings seem to shed light on the values the subjugated Greek society considered important at the time. Finally, studying betrayal as a violation of trust, brings to light further implications concerning betrayal as an expression of impoliteness, which does not seem to have been referred to in impoliteness models.
Lemonia Tsavdaridou and Petroula Tsoli
National identity is strongly related to its immediate context (Hertzfeld, 2005) and may eloquently be inscribed in discourse (Benwell and Stokoe 2006). The study examines cultural values in Kolokotronis’ Memoirs which shaped the Greek identity in the time of the 1821 revolutionary movement. The study uses Schwartz’s categorisation of human values model to suggest values that shaped the emerging Greek nation-state. A close reading of the text reveals that although occasional instances of the whοle spectrum of values do appear, Benevolence, Tradition and (Non)-Conformity (in Schwartz’s categorisation) were the values which primarily governed the 1821 Greek national identity.
Konstantinos Daskalakis and Chara Vlachaki
Societal features are often inscribed in discourse, thus making discourses rich resources for advancing understanding of societal features. The study examines Kolokotronis’ Memoirs to retrieve manifestations of societal features. It (a) traces a collectivistic spirit prevalent in the subjugated Greek society at the time of the 1821 Greek revolution and (b) retrieves the leader’s perception of societal progress and education in the context of the collective Greek consciousness. The findings highlight dimensions of collectivism (i.e. solidarity, need for unity, and self-sacrifice) and conceptual metaphors shaping perceptions of education and progress. The study shows that the collectivistic spirit is ubiquitous in the Memoirs and that perceptions of education and progress relate to the collective self of the newly born Greek state.
Eleni Sitou and Ioanna Asanakidi
The study investigates perception of death and dying in the context of the 1821 Greek revolution, as manifested in Kolokotronis’ Memoirs. As metaphor is key to unlocking cognitive aspects of language use, the study analyses literal and metaphorical death and dying expressions in the data, in the framework of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). The study uses a qualitative and quantitative research methodology to account for literal and metaphorical discourse realizations of death and contrasts it to pre¬sent day use. Findings show that the well-known formula TARGET DOMAIN IS SOURCE DOMAIN (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) is operative in describing death and dying, in the context of the revolution.
Efi Pouliasi and Marianna Papageorgopoulou
The present study first draws on Sharmad Hashan (2019) who discusses leadership qualities that make a good leader and identifies them in Kolokotronis’ behavior as manifested in the Memoirs. The qualities of a good leader assume a politeness framework which establishes good rapport with interlocutors. The study then turns to impoliteness and uses Jonathan Culpeper’s (2010) model of conventionalized impoliteness formulae to identify instances of “impoliteness that remains on the surface, since it is understood that it is not intended to cause offence” (Culpeper 1996:352). Although considerable research has been devoted to the topic of im/politeness, much less attention has been paid to impoliteness in historical discourses. The paper is an attempt to broaden the interdisciplinary potential of im/politeness.
Georgia Valasidou and Aristea-Maria Metaxa
How power relations between interlocutors are shaped and practiced has been of interest to pragmaticists. Although extensive research has been done on power relations in the workplace (Fairhurst, 2007; Holmes & Stubbe, 2015), there is no corresponding analysis of power relations at times of turbulent historical periods. The study draws on Kolokotronis’ Memoirs to examine the Greek fighters' relations with the Great Powers and the influence the Great Powers exerted. We draw on Bourdieu's (1986) theory of the importance of cultural capital for power acquisition, Foucault's (1970) theory on the connection of knowledge, history and power, and of the positive/negative effects that power may have. Findings show that, although the Great Powers were more powerful, their relationship with the Greek fighters was a cooperative one rather than one of imposition. These results coincide with Searle's (1995) view of power as a result of agreement rather than of force of struggle.
Aikaterini-Sofia Panoutsou and Fioralbo Permeti
This research focuses on the linguistic expressions which shape the conceptualization of war, battle and the rebel figure in the Memoirs. Drawing on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and Engstrøm’s approach to metaphor theory (1999), it takes a qualitative approach to the text focusing on different ways in which war, battle and the rebel figure are understood by Kolokotronis. The study traced both conventional and novel instances of metaphors, providing a comprehensive overview of rebel life and the way military affairs were perceived at the time. The contribution of the study lies in the novel conceptualizations in the Memoirs which advance understanding of the 1821 war and rebel fighting.
Spatiο-temporal landscapes in subjugated Greece, Despoina Dimaki and Athanasia Katsa
This paper examines perception of the spatial and temporal landscape as described in Kolokotronis’ Memoirs, offering the specifics of a spatio-temporal background at the time of the Greek War of Independence. It explores specific references to space and time in the narration, viewed in the light of Bakhtin’s chronotope (1937) theory. The Greek landscape outlined through references to mountainous areas and flatlands appears to be a defining aspect of the Greek agrarian society and of the war outcome. With time being expressed through natural phenomena and space, we observe an interrelation between the two concepts in the mind of the narrator. A close reading of the text indicates how these concepts are inextricably intertwined and to what extent they uniquely contributed to shaping socio-historical events.
Evaluation Committee: MA students, “English Language, Linguistics and Translation