Leiden University Student Repository

Maliopoulos, Charalampos (2020)

CHASING THE IMAGINARY - The Classical Past of Ancient Greece: Colonial and National Fantasies

Master thesis | Archaeology (MA/MSc)

Classical past and its material evocations continue to play a vital role in both Greek national imagination and the collective subconscious of Greek society. At the same time, racial discrimination and xenophobic feelings are on the rise due to recent increase in migration and refugee flows mainly from Asia and Africa. Still, the colonial undercurrents concerning the connection of Greece with classical antiquity and its more recent Ottoman past are in a considerable degree unrecognized. The analytical tools available in postcolonial archaeology and its broader theoretical framework offer a more nuanced comprehension of colonialism and its complex nature and effects. Drawing therefore upon postcolonial studies, this thesis examines the development of archaeology in Ottoman Greece in conjunction with colonialist and nationalist discourses and practices, and critiques the colonial reverberations evident in present archaeological research.

Greece

Archaeology

Colonialism

Nationalism

Author

Maliopoulos, Charalampos

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Specialisation

Museum Studies and Archaeological Heritage Management

Supervisors

De Campos Francozo, Mariana
Halbertsma, Ruurd

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en