The Little Mariner (review)

Reviews 147 subtle, and poetic, while Abbot's work he finds formative and significant. Loudémis for Proussis exhibits truth and realism grounded in reality and much that is autobiographical and original. Yánnis SkarÃ-mbas offers us a beautiful musical language whose parodies are unique, attractive, and inimitable . But it is upon PandelÃ-s Prevelákis that Proussis bestows his greatest praise for his ability to reach deeply and persuasively into the depths of the Greek people's being with a most appropriate language. "Folk humanism" was sought by Prevelákis as that which could mold mankind. Prevelákis saw this as the most vibrant humanism in the world. Proussis agrees. Five brief essays are dedicated to the literature of Thessaloniki as exemplified by Stélios Xefloúdas, G. Delios, Arkadio, Alkiviádis Yannópoulos, and G. T. Vafópoulos. The final section is a potpourri of essays on Rigas FeraÃ-os and Adam ándios Koraïs (a study in mythmaking) and critiques of the histories of modern Greek literature by I. M. Panayotópoulos and Aristos Kambánis (severely criticized), K. T. Dimarás (favorably received), and a review of 'Angelos Fouriótis's Intellectual Journey (1952; generally favorably reviewed). No brief review can do this book justice; a long review would entail reviewing the whole course of modern Greek literature from the 1920s to at least the 1970s, if not up to the present. It is regrettable that Dr. Proussis did not provide a preface to the present collection since there is no updating of the material presented in these dated but still very useful essays. His views on what has happened in modern Greek literature since the 1960s would have been especially enlightening since Proussis as a critic was close to so much that was formative and seminal in the field. It would have been interesting to have his comments on contextuality, intertextuality, deconstructionism , post-modernism, and all the other -isms that are now being applied to the criticism of modern Greek literature. It is, of course, possible that such observations will appear in a forthcoming volume. But for the present Έλληνες ποιητÎ-Ï‚ και πεζογϕάφοι stands as a permanent record of a sensible and sensitive critique of modern Greek literature by a devoted Cypriot Greek at a time when that literature did not get the kind of international attention and scrutiny that it is now receiving. Proussis's efforts will help us to put the study of modern Greek literature in proper perspective. John E. Rexine Colgate University Odysseas Elytis, The Little Mariner. Translated by Olga Broumas. Port Townsend , Washington: Copper Canyon Press. 1988. Pp. 128. $10.00. The Little Mariner depicts the escape of the poet/narrator from reality and his spiritual journey to the other Greece that, in spite of its many resemblances to the Greek landscape, is an imaginary, idyllic place created in 148 Reviews accordance with the poet's sensibility, values, and vision. In this imaginary land, beloved places, monuments, humble everyday objects, and masterpieces of Hellenic and European civilization coexist harmoniously regardless of their temporal or spatial distance. The work is shaped: Entrance—a-b-c-d (thrice repeated)—a—b—Exit. In a are spotlights, instances of cruelty and injustice through Greek history, four sections of seven instances each; in b ("anoint the aristón") are 28 prose poems of an autobiographical cast; c, entitled "with light and with death," contains 21 lyrical poems; d, variously titled, records influences on the poet's life and work, often in list fashion. The whole constitutes a kind of literary autobiography, a search for self and justice. Broumas appends notes explaining some of Elytis's references to historical and geographical matters. The translator has often done an excellent job of catching Elytis's poetry and rendering it into English. Particularly good are "a / Girl will declare on her body beautiful / Revolution with trembling voices and pyrotechnic / Fruit returning history / to go . . ." (30) and "Child—you dare call me! Play if you dare / Pretend me a plant—wrap me a wind" (62). Less good, and even wrong, are: "THE SOUL too has its dust, and woe if the wind doesn't stir in us" (84) instead of "woe...