Infamy and Revolt: The Rise of the National Problem in Early Modern Greek Thought (review)

Benjamin of Lesvos, the nineteenth-century Greek philosopher, could scarcely have been more confident about the powers of his compatriots. “Neither the Greeks of old nor the Greeks of today,” he claimed, “are subject to the laws of nature” (cited in Richard Clogg, A Concise History of Greece, 2nd edition, Cambridge University, 2002:32). Writing in 1820, Benjamin captured well the self-assurance which the movement called “Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment” had given the nation since the seventeenth century.

Dean J. Kostantaras’s book, Infamy and Revolt: The Rise of the National Problem in Early Modern Greek Thought, concentrates on quite the reverse of this assertion. The author’s thesis is simple: the Greek intellectuals of the eighteenth century were exposed to a harrowing deprecation of the state of their country at that time by the Westerners with whom they came in contact in their travels and studies. Their national consciousness, stung by these experiences, expressed itself in vigorous renovation efforts. Central to these was the theme of the “fallen nation” seeking redemption.

There are many aspects of the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment which do not conform to this analysis. Part of the problem is that Kostantaras makes no attempt to account for those numerous writers who, like Benjamin, were not self-pitying. Another problem is that the author’s definition of Balkan nationalisms is so broad as to admit practically anything with a nationalistic bent to it as evidence. But the real problem is that Kostantaras attempts to interpret a hugely complex and nuanced historical period by means of a single psychological reflex.

Today there is broad agreement among historians that Neo-Hellenic nationalism and the creation of the Greek state proceeded in tandem with a fierce belief in “progress,” letters, and culture. The construction of the concept of ethnic identity was facilitated by the morphosis of the ecumenism of Balkan orthodoxy into originally hesitant “linguistic nations.” The proponents of the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment extolled the virtues of Greek civilization. By dint of Greek culture, went the syllogism, headway in the region could be achieved. Rather than a matter of origin, to be Greek meant to be Greek-educated. The ethnos (nation) was a collectivity delineated by language and cultural heritage. Further intricacy was to be had in the tension between the Enlightenment’s objectives and the overlap with the more traditionalist ones of the Church, as well as the impact of the emergent bourgeoisie on the making of national identity.

It goes without saying that all this is not to deny that modern historiography has benefited tremendously from Freudian, Marxist, and Weberian social theories of various stripes. These perspectives took into account impersonal forces, unconscious drives, and cultural aspects together with economic elements. Recent attention to the constructedness of discourses contributed useful insights too. However, one tends to think that Kostantaras’s intense emphasis on self-pity excludes everything else, even when he nods at other factors.

Consider Iosipos Moisiodax, who exemplifies superbly the “linguistic nation” which the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment entailed. Not Greek by birth, Moisiodax considered himself Greek on the strength of his education, and sang the praises of the vernacular, which he regarded as superior to any other language, including ancient Greek. Moisiodax argued resolutely for the introduction of modern Greek into school curricula, and was, not unexpectedly, attacked by the conservative camp on the grounds that he was not a native, and that he did not know ancient Greek. Kostantaras, instead of putting the debate within a scene-setting frame, where much could be explained by the conflict between advocates of ancient Greek and those of the modern form, sets great store in the inferiority complex which Moisiodax supposedly felt as a result of the attacks on his ideas and credentials.

The advent of Greek moneyed classes mattered enormously for relations with the Ottoman state and the construction of national consciousness. Kostantaras...