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TITLE Με αφορμή μερικούς αγγλικούς στίχους της Ερωφίλης του 1870: ο E. M. Geldart και η μελέτη του The Modern Greek Language and its Relation to Ancient Greek
AUTHOR Κατσιγιάννης Αλέξανδρος
SECTION b
LANGUAGE Ελληνικά / Greek
PUBLISH DATE 06.03.2019
KEYWORDS Κρητική Λογοτεχνία, Ερωφίλη, Μετάφραση, Βικτωριανή Αγγλία, Ιστορία Νεοελληνικής Λογοτεχνίας
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Abstract


The mapping of Modern Greek literary production in the 19th century was a first-class opportunity for European scholars, from Byron to William Martin Leake and from Claude Fauriel to Émile Legrand, to elaborate on the Modern Greek Identity being shaped at the time. In this essay I will bring to light the unknown work of Edmund Martin Geldart, an English Unitarian minister and teacher Oxford, The Modern Greek Language in its Relation to Ancient Greek (Oxford 1870). In this interesting work, among many other texts, E. M. Geldart translated parts of Erophile and a few verses of Erotokritos. Firstly, I will try to integrate Geldart’s work in the long tradition of such works in English, beginning with Byron’s “Appendix” to Childe Harold. Secondly, I will elaborate particularly on the chapter “Modern Greek Literature” (pp. 138-177), where Geldart presents his own efforts towards the historization of Modern Greek Literature. It is of no small importance to note that Geldart visited Athens in 1867 and worked as a teacher until May 1868, when he left. Finally, I will focus on his translating effort, which is extremely interesting, since it is in verse and of the utmost grace and consistency. Therefore, this essay will elaborate on the transfer of Cretan Literature to the English-speaking world by means of “teaching manuals” and occasional translation efforts during the 19th century.