Modern Greek Section

Paper Gr 6

Greek literature, thought, and history, since 1900

This paper is only available at Part II from October 2011

Download the 2005 exam paper
Download the 2009 exam paper
Exam papers can also be downloaded from CamTools.

This popular paper includes the work of such internationally recognised writers as Cavafy, Kazantzakis and Seferis. The study of these important authors constitutes a major part of the course, but less well-known prose-writers and poets are also covered. In addition to those authors named in the list of prescribed texts, it is also possible to focus on the work of a range of post-war poets and novelists, and on selected topics in 20th-century Greek history and politics. Students are encouraged to follow their own interests. The lectures will also cover broader cultural issues, such as Modernism, and two lectures will be devoted to a major film of the 1980s: Angelopoulos's Ταξίδι στα Κύθηρα.The paper is divided into two sections: Section A comprises essay questions on the set literary texts; Section B offers a range of questions covering broader topics in the literature, history, thought and culture (including film) of the period. Candidates must answer three questions, at least one from each section.

Prescribed texts for 2012-13

C. Cavafy, Ποιήματα, Ανέκδοτα ποιήματα (ed. Savvidis)
K. Theotokis, Η τιμή και το χρήμα
S. Myrivilis, Η ζωή εν τάφω
k. Karyotakis, Ελεγεία και Σάτιρες
G. Seferis, Ποιήματα
Surrealist poets (Engonopoulos and Embirikos)
M. Axioti, Δύσκολες νύχτες
N. Kazantzakis, Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά
K. Tachtsis, Το τρίτο στεφάνι
R. Galanaki, Ο Βίος του Ισμαήλ Φερίκ Πασά

Teaching

16 lectures on the texts and their cultural context; 10 supervisions.

Course advisor

For further information or advice about this course please contact Prof. David Holton (e-mail: dwh11@cam.ac.uk)