Abstract

A prolific and versatile author, A. R. Rangavis sets most of his short stories in foreign lands—European countries or other far-away places. Recent criticism has proposed that the apparently foreign themes of Rangavis's stories can be read as allegories, parables or exemplary tales that refer to Greece's internal situation. In this context, how could one assess his less well-discussed stories dealing with imperial policies and colonial practices? On the one hand, their examination demonstrates Rangavis's familiarity with tropes of colonial fiction and shows his inclination for moral and humane principles of behavior. On the other, beyond moral instruction and entertainment, Rangavis's fictional involvement with the project of Empire could perhaps also be related to his interest in a Greek imperial future as it was expressed a few years later in the francophone journal Le Spectateur de l'Orient.

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