Kostoúla Mitropoúlou's Το παλαιοπωλείο στην Τσιμισκή and the New Novel

To classify Kostoúla Mitropoúlou's fiction as experimentalist in the vein of the New Novel is debatable. Her novel To Paleopolío stin Tsimiskí (1988) and its critical and promotional discussions raise issues that I will address by considering typology and the transmission of cultural form. When what has been called cultural diffusion or imperialism is seen in relation to a local setting for literary activity, the result is a differentiated complex of socio-artistic values that may be conducive to certain artistic strategies. For example, Mitropoúlou's work, in spite of its experimentalist aspects, does not respect any principle of formal integrity; instead, it incorporates the New Novel genre as one ingredient among others, arguably as an adaptation to local conditions and available materials. This partial appropriation of form may constitute a "marginal" manipulation of the center's classifying prerogative.