With the support of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, the Marilena Laskaridis Endowed Chair of Modern Greek Studies at the University of Amsterdam has begun a new collaboration with the CENSUS of Modern Greek Literature project, which is led by Prof. Dia Philippides (Prof. Emerita, Classical Studies, Boston College) and Prof. Wim Bakker (Prof. Emeritus, Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology, University of Amsterdam). At the University of Amsterdam, the collaboration is facilitated by Prof. Maria Boletsi (Marilena Laskaridis Chair) and Dr. Tatiana Markaki, Chair of the Dept. of Modern Greek Language and Culture.
The CENSUS is a forthcoming bibliography of modern Greek literature for speakers of English. The CENSUS’ collection includes (all discoverable) references both to English-language translations of modern Greek literary works and to studies published in English on authors, works, and topics in modern Greek literature. Though the publication dates of the references that are recorded in the CENSUS extend over the 200+ years from 1813 to today, the actual range of the covered subject matter extends from Digenis Akritas to today, that is a span of more than nine centuries. The project aims at publication both in print form (ca. 1,250 pages) and as an online (Open Access) database. Its distinguishing characteristics include: the broad range of its coverage, the unique depth of detail in its descriptions, and the links it provides to other standard reference sources and directly to online resources for immediate reading.
In this collaborative initiative select faculty members and students connected with the Marilena Laskaridis Chair in Amsterdam are participating in the CENSUS project through seminars initiated in Amsterdam and continuing (through transatlantic connections) online. The phase of the collaboration that is supported by the Foundation’s grant was initially set to run throughout the spring of 2020, was subsequently extended through the first semester of the academic year 2020-2021, and has now been further extended through the Spring semester of the academic year 2020-2021. The current grant is also supporting research development at the CENSUS’ home base in Boston (USA).
The research assistants collaborating with the CENSUS project in Amsterdam are:
– Αnthi Argyriou (PhD Candidate at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis; Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam).
– Georgios-Evgenios Douliakas (MA Comparative Literature and Cultural Analysis, Leiden University).
– Dr. Charalambos Passalis (philologist-lexicographer, guest lecturer at the Department of Modern Greek Studies of the University of Amsterdam, 2019-2021).
More information can be found on the following websites: Laskaridis Foundation and CENSUS of Modern Greek Literature.
The CENSUS project is now aiming at a first presentation of its results, initially focussing on the section “Authors 19th-21st century”, as part of the celebration of Greece’s Bicentennial year (2021) – with support from the Laskaridis Foundation and as one of the 130 international research projects under the aegis of the collective program “Πρωτοβουλία 1821-2021” (‘Initiative 1821-2021’). See also on the www.protovoulia21.gr/ website.