Greece
the “Metapolitefsis Generation”
"Generation X in Greek Comics" "Comics flourish immediately after the dictatorship (1967-1973/74) in Greece, bursting out of the political cartoon genre that has a very long history and tradition in the country. The broader development of Greek comics coincides with the development of bande desineé [a strip with drawings, comics] in France and Belgium and fumeti [little clouds, the comics dialogue ‘balloons’, comics] in Italy. In the seventies and eighties, but also in the nineties, European comics center on political criticism usually through science fiction and dark or humoristic fantasy. Greek comics of this period similarly become vehicles of this type of criticism. In particular, Greek Generation X artists critique politicians’ attempts to make Greece a ‘Western state’ instead of accept the dualism of a culture located between the East and the West. ‘We belong to the West!’ is the famous saying by the Right-wing Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis during a public speech immediately after the dictatorship in 1974. This declaration of Western identity includes a loss of the genuine Greek spirit for many, especially for Xers." ~ Evi Sampanikou, Excerpt from Generation X Goes Global |
Evi (Evangelia) Sampanikou. Associate Professor in Art History at the University of the Aegean (Mytilini/Lesvos-Greece), Department of Cultural Technology and Communication (since 2000). She has studied Archaeology, Art History and Theory and English Literature. Her former research included post-Byzantine painting, Renaissance influences on 16th and 17th century post-Byzantine art and art theory. Her later research mainly involves the History of Photography and relations between 19th and 20th century Painting and Photography, New Media Art and Theories and Comics History and Theory, while she also involves with Posthumanism. Her published work includes all the above mentioned topics: a book (1997) and several papers on post-Byzantine art (1991 – 1996), a book on photography (2003) and several publications on New Media Theory and Comics from 2005 to nowadays (see: www.ct.aegean.gr/people/esampa). |
For further Reading:
Allamanis, Yiorgos, I. Dihos Kavantza Kamia: Vios kai Politeia tou Nikola Asimou [With No Safety Net. The Life and Acts of Nicolas Asimos]. Athens: Nea Synora / A. A. Livanis Publishers, 2000. Print.
Bantimaroudis, Philemon. “Andreas Papandreou and the American Media: The Salient Attributes of a Socialist.” Mediterranean Quarterly: A Journal of Global Issues 14. 2, (Spring 2003): 110–29. Print.
Bastéa, Eleni. “DimitrisPikionis and Sedad Eldem: Parallel Reflections of Vernacular and National Architecture.” The Usable Past: Greek Metahistorie. Ed. Brown Keith S. and HamilakisYannis. London: Lexington Books, 2003. 147–70. Print.
Bayeris, Dimitris. O Diasimos Nikolas Asimos [The Famous Nikolas Asimos]. Athens: Sigaretta/OdosPanos, 1999. Print.
Charisopoulou, Vicky. I Hameni Genia tis Metapolitefsis [The Wasted Generation of Metapolitefsis]. Athens: Eksantas, 2001. Print.
Daloukas, Manolis. Elliniko Rock [Greek Rock]. Athens: Agyra, 2006. Print.
Diamantouros, Nikiforos. “Greek Politics and Society in the 1990s.” The Greek Paradox: Promise vs Performance. Ed. Graham T. Allison and Kalypso Nicolaidis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. Print.
Elefantis, Angelos. Ston Asterismo tou Laikismou [At the Constellation of Populism]. Athens:
Politis, 1991. Print.
Faubion, James D. Modern Greek Lessons: A Primer in Historical Constructivism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995. Print.
Gregoriades Solon, Neok. Istoria tis Synhronis Elladas [History of Contemporary Greece]. Athens: Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia, 2011. Print.
Huxley, Aldous, The Doors of Perception, Chatto & Windus Ltd, 1954. Print.
Ioannides, Christos. “Greece, Turkey, the United States and the Politics of Middle Eastern Terrorism.” Greece on the Road to Democracy: from the Junta to PASOK, 1974–1986. Ed. Speros Vryonis. New Rochelle, NY: A. D. Karatz, 1991. 152. Print.
Karamitsos, Philemon. “O Rolos tou Aneksartitou Typou gia tin Ekseliksi ton Comics stin Ellada” [The Role of Independent Press for the Evolution of Comics in Greece]. Metaksy Fantasias ke Pragmatikotitas. Skepseis ke Apopseis gia ta Comics [Between Imagination and Reality. Thoughts and Views on Comics]. Ed. Sampanikou Evi, Kawa Abraham, Kritikos Panos, Tselenti Myrtw (eds). Mytilene: Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, 2005. 28–35. Print.
Karamanolakis, Vaggelis, ed. I Stratiotiki Dictatoria [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 155–60. Print.
---. “The Reaction of the Youth Against the Military Establishment. ” I Stratiotiki Dictatoria [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 161–74. Print.
Kariotis, Theodore. The Greek Socialist Experiment: Papandreou’s Greece, 1981–1989. New York: Pella 1992. Print.
Kasimeris, Yiorgos, I ‘Epanastatiki Organosi 17 Noemvri’ [The “Revolutionary Organization 17th November”]. Athens: Kastaniotis, 2002. Print.
Kennealy-Morrison, Patricia. Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison. New York: Plume Books, 1993. Print.
Kritikos Panayiotis, Nik. Antistasi kata tis Diktatorias 1967–1974 [Resistance to Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Athens: Kalentis, 1996. Print.
Kritikos, Panos and Evi Sampanikou. Ihnilatontas to Fantastiko. Ta Ellinika Comics tou Fantastikou 1978–2004 [Tracing the Fantastic: Greek Comics of the Fantastic 1978–2004]. Athens: futura, 2005. Print.
Martinides Petros. I Ypsili Techni tis Apelpisias. Gia ton Isoviti tou Arka [The High Art of Despair. About Arkas’ “Lifer”]. Athens: ypsilon / books, 1992. Print.
Mason Michael, Ed. William Blake, The Oxford Authors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.
Mastorakis, Angelos, “Ta Periodika Comics stin Ellada apo ti Metapolitefsi eos Simera. Mia proti Katagrafi” [The Comics Magazines in Greece from Metapolitefsis to Nowadays. A First Report]. Metaksy Fantasias ke Pragmatikotitas. Skepseis ke Apopseis gia ta Comics [Between Imagination and Reality. Thoughts and Views on Comics]. Ed. Sampanikou Evi, Kawa Abraham, Kritikos Panos, Tselenti Myrtw. Mytilene: Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, 2005. 15–21 Print.
Nikolopoulos, Antonis (Soloúp). Ta Ellinika Comics apo ti Metapolitsfsi eos Simera. Ideologikes Diadromes ke Politismikes Anaparastaseis [Greek Comics from Metapolitefsis to Nowadays. Ideological Routes and Cultural Representations]. Dissertation. University of the Aegean, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication. 2011.
Papadaniel, Aristarchos. Elliniki Politiki Geloiografia. I Sovari Pleyra mias ‘Asteias’ Technis [Greek Political Cartoon: The Serious Side of a “Funny” Art]. Athens: Self-Financed, 2003. Print.
Papademetriou, Despina. “Antidiktatorikes Kiniseis ke Organoseis: O Syntiritikos Xoros.” I Stratiotiki Dictatoria 1967–1974 [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Ed. Karamanolakis, Vaggelis. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 155–60. Print.
Papanikolaou, Dimitris. “‘Kanontas Kati Paradoxes Kiniseis’: O Politismos sta Chronia tis Diktatorias” [“Making Paradox Movements”: Culture in the Years of Dictatorship]. I Stratiotiki Dictatoria 1967–1974 [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Ed. Karamanolakis, Vaggelis. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 175–96. Print.
Papathanasiou, Ioanna, “I Aristera: Apo tin Epivoli tis Diktatorias sti Diaspasi” [The Left: From the Imposition of Dictatorship to Disruption]. I Stratiotiki Dictatoria 1967–1974 [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Ed. Karamanolakis, Vaggelis. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 155–60. Print.
Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels. London: Phaidon Press Ltd, 1996. Print.
Sampanikou, Evi. “Posthumanism in Comics.” Posthumanism and Transhumanism, Ed. Ranisch Robert and Sorgner Stefan. New York: Peter Lang, 2012 (forthcoming). Print.
Sampanikou, Evi, Abraham Kawa, Panos Kritikos, and Tselenti Myrtw, eds. Metaksy Fantasias ke Pragmatikotitas. Skepseis ke Apopseis gia ta Comics [Between Imagination and Reality. Thoughts and Views on Comics]. Mytilene: Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, 2005. Print.
Sampanikou, Evi and Angie Voela. “Sense and Representation in Popular Art. Helena Navrozidou: A Case Study.” Aspects of Representation. Studies on Art and Technology. New Technologies in Contemporary Cultural Expression. Ed. Evi Sampanikou and Evangila Kavakli. Mytilene: University of the Aegean, 2008. 213–38. Print.
Sampanikou, Evi, Panos Kritikos, and Tsenenti Myrto. Metaksy Fantasias kai Pragmatikotitas [Between Imagination and Reality]. Exhibition Catalogue, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, University of the Aegean, Mytilini 2003. 88–95. Print.
Sapranidis, Dimitris. Istoria tis Ellinikis Politikis Geloiografias. Apo tin Archaeotita sti Metapolitefsi [History of Greek Political Cartoon: From Antiquity to Metapolitefsis]. Athens: Potamos, 2005. Print.
Skarpelos, Yannis. Istoriki Mnimi ke Ellinikotita sta Comics [Historical Memory and Greek-ness in Comics]. Athens: Kritiki, 2000. Print.
Sotiropoulos, Dimitris, Populism and Bureaucracy: The Case of Greece under PASOK, 1981–1989. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996. Print.
Voulgaris, Yiannis. I Ellada tis Metapolitefsis 1974–1990. Statheri Demokratia Simademeni apo ti Metapolemiki Istoria [Greece of Metapolitefsis 1974–1990. Stable Democracy Marked by Post-War History]. Athens: Themelio, 2008. Print.
---. I Ellada apo ti Metapolitefsi stin Pagosmiopoiisi [Greece from Metapolitefsis
to Globalization]. Athens: Polis, Athens 2008. Print.
---. Ta pente moiraia xronia. I politiki tis adraneias 2004–2009. [The Fatal Five
Years: The Politics of Inactivity]. Athens: Polis, 2011. Print.
Vyzovitou, Dora, “Istoria ton Ellinikon Comics” [History of Greek Comics]. Diavazw 252 (1990):
13–18. Print.
Allamanis, Yiorgos, I. Dihos Kavantza Kamia: Vios kai Politeia tou Nikola Asimou [With No Safety Net. The Life and Acts of Nicolas Asimos]. Athens: Nea Synora / A. A. Livanis Publishers, 2000. Print.
Bantimaroudis, Philemon. “Andreas Papandreou and the American Media: The Salient Attributes of a Socialist.” Mediterranean Quarterly: A Journal of Global Issues 14. 2, (Spring 2003): 110–29. Print.
Bastéa, Eleni. “DimitrisPikionis and Sedad Eldem: Parallel Reflections of Vernacular and National Architecture.” The Usable Past: Greek Metahistorie. Ed. Brown Keith S. and HamilakisYannis. London: Lexington Books, 2003. 147–70. Print.
Bayeris, Dimitris. O Diasimos Nikolas Asimos [The Famous Nikolas Asimos]. Athens: Sigaretta/OdosPanos, 1999. Print.
Charisopoulou, Vicky. I Hameni Genia tis Metapolitefsis [The Wasted Generation of Metapolitefsis]. Athens: Eksantas, 2001. Print.
Daloukas, Manolis. Elliniko Rock [Greek Rock]. Athens: Agyra, 2006. Print.
Diamantouros, Nikiforos. “Greek Politics and Society in the 1990s.” The Greek Paradox: Promise vs Performance. Ed. Graham T. Allison and Kalypso Nicolaidis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. Print.
Elefantis, Angelos. Ston Asterismo tou Laikismou [At the Constellation of Populism]. Athens:
Politis, 1991. Print.
Faubion, James D. Modern Greek Lessons: A Primer in Historical Constructivism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995. Print.
Gregoriades Solon, Neok. Istoria tis Synhronis Elladas [History of Contemporary Greece]. Athens: Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia, 2011. Print.
Huxley, Aldous, The Doors of Perception, Chatto & Windus Ltd, 1954. Print.
Ioannides, Christos. “Greece, Turkey, the United States and the Politics of Middle Eastern Terrorism.” Greece on the Road to Democracy: from the Junta to PASOK, 1974–1986. Ed. Speros Vryonis. New Rochelle, NY: A. D. Karatz, 1991. 152. Print.
Karamitsos, Philemon. “O Rolos tou Aneksartitou Typou gia tin Ekseliksi ton Comics stin Ellada” [The Role of Independent Press for the Evolution of Comics in Greece]. Metaksy Fantasias ke Pragmatikotitas. Skepseis ke Apopseis gia ta Comics [Between Imagination and Reality. Thoughts and Views on Comics]. Ed. Sampanikou Evi, Kawa Abraham, Kritikos Panos, Tselenti Myrtw (eds). Mytilene: Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, 2005. 28–35. Print.
Karamanolakis, Vaggelis, ed. I Stratiotiki Dictatoria [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 155–60. Print.
---. “The Reaction of the Youth Against the Military Establishment. ” I Stratiotiki Dictatoria [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 161–74. Print.
Kariotis, Theodore. The Greek Socialist Experiment: Papandreou’s Greece, 1981–1989. New York: Pella 1992. Print.
Kasimeris, Yiorgos, I ‘Epanastatiki Organosi 17 Noemvri’ [The “Revolutionary Organization 17th November”]. Athens: Kastaniotis, 2002. Print.
Kennealy-Morrison, Patricia. Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison. New York: Plume Books, 1993. Print.
Kritikos Panayiotis, Nik. Antistasi kata tis Diktatorias 1967–1974 [Resistance to Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Athens: Kalentis, 1996. Print.
Kritikos, Panos and Evi Sampanikou. Ihnilatontas to Fantastiko. Ta Ellinika Comics tou Fantastikou 1978–2004 [Tracing the Fantastic: Greek Comics of the Fantastic 1978–2004]. Athens: futura, 2005. Print.
Martinides Petros. I Ypsili Techni tis Apelpisias. Gia ton Isoviti tou Arka [The High Art of Despair. About Arkas’ “Lifer”]. Athens: ypsilon / books, 1992. Print.
Mason Michael, Ed. William Blake, The Oxford Authors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.
Mastorakis, Angelos, “Ta Periodika Comics stin Ellada apo ti Metapolitefsi eos Simera. Mia proti Katagrafi” [The Comics Magazines in Greece from Metapolitefsis to Nowadays. A First Report]. Metaksy Fantasias ke Pragmatikotitas. Skepseis ke Apopseis gia ta Comics [Between Imagination and Reality. Thoughts and Views on Comics]. Ed. Sampanikou Evi, Kawa Abraham, Kritikos Panos, Tselenti Myrtw. Mytilene: Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, 2005. 15–21 Print.
Nikolopoulos, Antonis (Soloúp). Ta Ellinika Comics apo ti Metapolitsfsi eos Simera. Ideologikes Diadromes ke Politismikes Anaparastaseis [Greek Comics from Metapolitefsis to Nowadays. Ideological Routes and Cultural Representations]. Dissertation. University of the Aegean, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication. 2011.
Papadaniel, Aristarchos. Elliniki Politiki Geloiografia. I Sovari Pleyra mias ‘Asteias’ Technis [Greek Political Cartoon: The Serious Side of a “Funny” Art]. Athens: Self-Financed, 2003. Print.
Papademetriou, Despina. “Antidiktatorikes Kiniseis ke Organoseis: O Syntiritikos Xoros.” I Stratiotiki Dictatoria 1967–1974 [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Ed. Karamanolakis, Vaggelis. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 155–60. Print.
Papanikolaou, Dimitris. “‘Kanontas Kati Paradoxes Kiniseis’: O Politismos sta Chronia tis Diktatorias” [“Making Paradox Movements”: Culture in the Years of Dictatorship]. I Stratiotiki Dictatoria 1967–1974 [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Ed. Karamanolakis, Vaggelis. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 175–96. Print.
Papathanasiou, Ioanna, “I Aristera: Apo tin Epivoli tis Diktatorias sti Diaspasi” [The Left: From the Imposition of Dictatorship to Disruption]. I Stratiotiki Dictatoria 1967–1974 [The Military Dictatorship 1967–1974]. Ed. Karamanolakis, Vaggelis. Athens: TA NEA / Istoria, 2010. 155–60. Print.
Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels. London: Phaidon Press Ltd, 1996. Print.
Sampanikou, Evi. “Posthumanism in Comics.” Posthumanism and Transhumanism, Ed. Ranisch Robert and Sorgner Stefan. New York: Peter Lang, 2012 (forthcoming). Print.
Sampanikou, Evi, Abraham Kawa, Panos Kritikos, and Tselenti Myrtw, eds. Metaksy Fantasias ke Pragmatikotitas. Skepseis ke Apopseis gia ta Comics [Between Imagination and Reality. Thoughts and Views on Comics]. Mytilene: Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, 2005. Print.
Sampanikou, Evi and Angie Voela. “Sense and Representation in Popular Art. Helena Navrozidou: A Case Study.” Aspects of Representation. Studies on Art and Technology. New Technologies in Contemporary Cultural Expression. Ed. Evi Sampanikou and Evangila Kavakli. Mytilene: University of the Aegean, 2008. 213–38. Print.
Sampanikou, Evi, Panos Kritikos, and Tsenenti Myrto. Metaksy Fantasias kai Pragmatikotitas [Between Imagination and Reality]. Exhibition Catalogue, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, University of the Aegean, Mytilini 2003. 88–95. Print.
Sapranidis, Dimitris. Istoria tis Ellinikis Politikis Geloiografias. Apo tin Archaeotita sti Metapolitefsi [History of Greek Political Cartoon: From Antiquity to Metapolitefsis]. Athens: Potamos, 2005. Print.
Skarpelos, Yannis. Istoriki Mnimi ke Ellinikotita sta Comics [Historical Memory and Greek-ness in Comics]. Athens: Kritiki, 2000. Print.
Sotiropoulos, Dimitris, Populism and Bureaucracy: The Case of Greece under PASOK, 1981–1989. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996. Print.
Voulgaris, Yiannis. I Ellada tis Metapolitefsis 1974–1990. Statheri Demokratia Simademeni apo ti Metapolemiki Istoria [Greece of Metapolitefsis 1974–1990. Stable Democracy Marked by Post-War History]. Athens: Themelio, 2008. Print.
---. I Ellada apo ti Metapolitefsi stin Pagosmiopoiisi [Greece from Metapolitefsis
to Globalization]. Athens: Polis, Athens 2008. Print.
---. Ta pente moiraia xronia. I politiki tis adraneias 2004–2009. [The Fatal Five
Years: The Politics of Inactivity]. Athens: Polis, 2011. Print.
Vyzovitou, Dora, “Istoria ton Ellinikon Comics” [History of Greek Comics]. Diavazw 252 (1990):
13–18. Print.