Heirs of the Greek Catastrophe: Social Life of Asia Minor Refugees in Piraeus - Hardcover

Hirschon, Renee

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019823404X ISBN 13: 9780198234043

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1989

Synopsis

The war between Greece and Turkey in 1921-2 came to be known by the Greeks as the Asian Minor catastrophe. It marked the end of Hellenism in the ancient heartland of Asia Minor: with the resulting compulsory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, over a million Greek refugees entered Greece in two years. Over half a century later, a large section of the urban refugee population who settled in Greece still claimed a separate Asia Minor identity, despite sharing with other Greeks a common culture, language and religion. This volume based on the author's fieldwork, is an ethnographic study of Kokkinia, an urban quarter in Piraeus. It is the study of an urban refugee group which reveals that the inhabitants' sense of separate identity was consciously maintained, an aspect of continuity with their well-defined identiy as an Orthodox Christian minority in the Ottoman Empire. The study also aims to provide insights into the phenomenon of ethnicity. Kokkinia's inhabitants had evolved a way of life, both meaningful and coherent, centred on family and neighbourhood. It shows how their religious tradition provided the foundations for the meanings embedded in everyday practice, and for the symbolic dimension which pervaded daily life. The author looks at the social lives of women, attempting to cover structural, together with cultural dimensions, social conduct, values and linguistic expressions. The work should be of interest to social anthropologists and scientists, those concerned with urban studies, refugees and aid agencies, women's studies specialists and theologians.

About this title

Review:

.".". elegantly written and intellectually coherent ... a marvellous study."."Anthropological Quarterly

""By stimulating new debates on important theoretical issues, the book makes essential reading for anyone with an interest in Mediterranean Europe."."JASO

""This well-crafted volume provides ... indispensable reading for students of ethnicity in general, and modern Greek society in particular."."International Migration Review

.".". a welcome innovation: it opens up the field of urban anthropology, while at the same time it remains within the best tradition of anthropology monographs."."Modern Greek Studies Yearbook"

..". elegantly written and intellectually coherent ... a marvellous study." - Anthropological Quarterly

"By stimulating new debates on important theoretical issues, the book makes essential reading for anyone with an interest in Mediterranean Europe." - JASO

"This well-crafted volume provides ... indispensable reading for students of ethnicity in general, and modern Greek society in particular." - International Migration Review

..". a welcome innovation: it opens up the field of urban anthropology, while at the same time it remains within the best tradition of anthropology monographs." - Modern Greek Studies Yearbook

-... elegantly written and intellectually coherent ... a marvellous study.- - Anthropological Quarterly

-By stimulating new debates on important theoretical issues, the book makes essential reading for anyone with an interest in Mediterranean Europe.- - JASO

-This well-crafted volume provides ... indispensable reading for students of ethnicity in general, and modern Greek society in particular.- - International Migration Review

-... a welcome innovation: it opens up the field of urban anthropology, while at the same time it remains within the best tradition of anthropology monographs.- - Modern Greek Studies Yearbook

About the Author:

Renee Hirschon was educated at the universities of Cape Town, Chicago and Oxford. Intensive fieldwork among the Asia Minor refugees settled in Piraeus resulted in the monograph "Heirs of the Greek Catastrophe". She has been Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, and Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of the Aegean. She is currently Research Associate of the Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, Senior Research Fellow and College Lecturer, St Peter's College, University of Oxford and Senior Member at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 019823404X
• ISBN 13: 9780198234043
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 300