Εισαγωγή στη Πεζογραφία του Παπαδιαμάντη: Επιλογή Κριτικών Κειμένων (review)

Alexandros Papadiamantis is, undoubtedly, the most written about modern Greek prose writer; in fact, since the 1880s it has become almost "a rite of passage" for all literati to publish at least one essay on some aspect of Papadiamantis's work. The proliferation of those texts, in various literary journals, creates the need for compilation and hence, from time to time, anthologies of criticism focusing on Papadiamantis's work are offered to the reading public. The latest such anthology is G. Farinou-Malamatari's Εισαγωγή στην Πεζογραφία του Παπαδιαμάντη: Επιλογή Κριτικών Κειμένων (Introduction to the Prose Work of Papadiamantis: Selection of Critical Texts).

Farinou-Malamatari's effort differs significantly from all previously presented in two regards. First of all, it is an anthology with a thesis; the author maintains that all criticisms, since the one by Palamas in the 1880s, constitute answers to two questions—one concerns the language of Papadiamantis, and the other addresses the way modern Greek life and the national and spiritual character are imprinted in Papadiamantis's work. Secondly, in order to prove her thesis, Farinou-Malamatari develops a systematic periodization based on certain criteria. As she states in her 40-page long, "Short introduction to the perception of Papadiamantis's work," the texts were selected on the basis of four criteria: a) "representativeness" b) "inclusiveness" c) "worth" and d) "dialogic quality." The criterion of "representativeness" aims at ensuring that a variety of approaches to the work of Papadiamantis, as they appeared chronologically, comprise the anthology. "Inclusiveness" makes certain that both negative and positive dispositions towards the work of Papadiamantis find a place in the anthology while "worth" allows for the inclusion of "worthy criticisms and/or criticisms written by well known authors." Finally, the criterion of "dialogic quality" excludes all criticisms that are criticisms of other criticisms.

Forty-five texts of various authors are contained in the more than 600 pages of the anthology. Also included are an extensive timeline of Papadiamantis's life, a chronological list of the first appearance of the critical texts, a catalogue of Papadiamantis's published works, and a sizeable bibliography of criticism since 1981.

There can be no doubt that Farinou-Malamatari has produced an impressive and very valuable work. Her introduction is informative and her discussion of the anthologized texts is an excellent guide for the reader. Nevertheless, there are two concerns. The first has to do with the nature of the anthologized texts. Most of them are excerpts and one cannot be certain that they do justice to the actual whole texts. For instance, I do not believe that the excerpted piece by Telos Agras provides the reader with a fair representation of Agras's whole study. It is understood, of course, that a more extensive inclusion would have turned the anthology into a "monster" of God-knows-how-many pages. This point is made only in order to encourage the reader not to avoid reading the actual texts in their entirety.

The second concern has to do with the criterion of "worth." Although Farinou-Malamatari means to subsume "worth" under those of "representativeness" and "inclusiveness," it seems that the strength of the criterion of "worth" is such that, in reality, once you decide what is "worthy" (and what is not), all other criteria are rendered ornamental rationalizations.

Overall Farinou-Malamatari's book is a useful tool for all interested in Papadiamantis's prose work.