From Absence to Trauma: a Study on the Representation Of
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From Absence to Trauma: A Study on the Representation of the Occupation and the Civil War in Greek Films of the Period 1946-1989 by Dimos Dimoulas A dissertation submitted to the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies, School of English, Faculty of Philosophy, In fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece June 2017 ii iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would have never been able to complete my dissertation without the guidance of my advisor, help from my friends, and support from my family. It is my great pleasure to acknowledge people who have given me guidance, help and encouragement. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Professor Michalis Kokkonis for the continuous support of my Ph.D. study and related research, for his caring, personal attention, motivation, ample knowledge and for providing me an excellent atmosphere of doing research. His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. Professor Kokkonis also helped me to develop my background in film theory and history, opening new horizons for me. Each of the members of my Dissertation Committee has provided me extensive personal and professional guidance and taught me a great deal about both scientific research and life in general. I would especially like to thank Professor Yiorgos Kalogeras. Working with Professor Kalogeras has been a pleasure and a privilege; he patiently corrected my writing and his help has been invaluable and much appreciated. My sincere thanks goes to Assistant Professor Eleftheria Thanouli her insightful comments and encouragement, her advice and feedback but also for the hard question which incented me to widen my research from various perspectives. I am also indebted to Associate Professor Elpida Vogli for her encouragement and advice. I also want to express my gratitude to Assistant Professor Youli Theodosiadou for her contribution to the writing of this thesis. Lecturer Nikos Kontos has also provided valuable and insightful critique that made this thesis better. Last, but not least, I should state my gratitude to my family and my friends. I would like to thank my parents, Vasilis and Pighi, my sister Katerina and all my friends for supporting and encouraging me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life iv in general. Without their blessings and positive energy, I would not have been able to finish this work. v Abstract The present thesis undertakes to examine how the historical events of the Nazi Occupation and the Greek Civil War are represented in an extensive range of films produced between 1946 and 1989. Through a detailed reading, the study attempts a critical analysis of cinematic depictions of the 1940s events in more than eighty films. Particular emphasis is given to the social, cultural and political environment in which movies were created and which affected the postwar filmic production. Occupation films appeared shortly after the end of the Second World War. However, the representation of the Civil War has been completely elided from screen. Through a close examination of the thematic concerns of several popular films of the post-war period, the thesis explores the ways in which the issue of the Civil War actually appeared in disguised forms in the narratives of classical cinema. The historically-themed pictures of the late 1960s and early 1970s is another main focus of this thesis. By examining Occupation and Civil War-themed features released between 1967 and 1974, the thesis identifies the structure of the Dictatorship’s vision of the nation and recent history. Regarding cinematic production after 1974, the dissertation highlights the screen representation of the Occupation and the Civil War by the representatives of the New Greek Cinema. The post-1974 cinema has a clear left-wing orientation, in contrast to the majority of films released during the Dictatorship that had a right-wing and militaristic content. The directors of the New Greek Cinema shifted their focus from the depiction of the warfare and paid attention to marginal aspects of the conflict, such as the fate of the political refugees, or dealt with memories of the war. Therefore, the thesis is concerned with the relationship between trauma and film, centering upon pictures indicative of trauma narratives. vi Abbreviations CGC Classical Greek Cinema DSE Dimokratikos Stratos Ellados Democratic Army of Greece EAM Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo National Liberation Front EAR Elliniki Aristera Greek Left EDES Ethnikos Dimokratikos Ellinikos Sindesmos National Republican Greek League EEC European Economic Community EK Enosis Kentrou Centrist Union ELAS Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos National Peoples’ Liberation Army ERE Ethini Rizospastiki Enosis National Radical Union EOKA Ethini Organosi Kiprion Agoniston National Organization of Cypriot Fighters vii EPON Eniea Panelladiki Organosi Neon United Panhellenic Organization of Youth ETBA Elliniki Trapeza Viomichanikis Anaptixis Greek Industrial and Developing Bank IT Iera Taxiarchia Holy Brigade KKE Kommounistiko Komma Ellados Communist Party of Greece MAY Monades Asfalias Ipethrou Units of Country’s Security NEK Neos Ellinikos Kinimatografos New Greek Cinema PASOK Panellinio Sosialistiko Kinima Panhellenic Socialist Movement PEK Palios Ellinikos Kinimatografos Old Greek Cinema PTSD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder SOE Special Operations Executive viii Glossary of Terms Allaghi Change Anendotos Agonas Uncompromising Fight catharsis purging Dekemvriana December Events (December 1944) Ethnikofrosini National-mindedness, National conviction katsaplias bandit komitadji Bulgarian guerilla bands lefki tromokratia white terror mavroskoufides partisans wearing black berets Metapolitefsi restoration of democracy pedomazoma children’ transfer to countries of the Eastern Bloc pedososimo salvation of children Pistopiitiko Kinonikon Fronimaton Certificate of Social Judiciousness Tagmata Ethnofrouras Battalions of National Guard ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................... iii Abstract ......................................................................................................................... v Abbreviations…………………………………………………….………………….vi Glossary of Terms ..................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 PART I: THE POST-WAR PERIOD Chapter I: The Transition Years (1950-1967) ......................................................... 67 Chapter II: The Occupation on Celluloid ................................................................ 79 Chapter III: The Representation of the Civil War in the Pre-1967 Film Production ................................................................................................................ 103 PART II: THE DICTATORSHIP PERIOD Chapter I: Military Junta and Return to Democracy (1967-1974) ..................... 128 Chapter II: The Occupation on Celluloid .............................................................. 141 Chapter III: The Representation of the Civil War during the Dictatorship ...... 171 x PART III: THE POST-1974 PERIOD Chapter I: Restoration of Democracy and PASOK’s Hegemony (1974-1989) .. 199 Chapter II: The Occupation and the Civil War on Celluloid .............................. 206 Chapter III: Screen Representations of the Civil War Trauma .......................... 229 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................... 256 WORKS CITED ....................................................................................................... 262 APPENDIX I: FILMOGRAPHY ........................................................................... 290 APPENDIX II: TIMELINE.....................................................................................315 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ………………...…..……………………………….317 1 Introduction Greek cinema has a productive, if problematic, relationship with the past. It is problematic from the perspective of those who dismiss the historical film for its factual inaccuracies, narrow point of view, oversimplification, conventional and standardized way of representation, ideologization of the past. Productive, because the past has provided a rich source of narrative situations, compelling themes, beautiful characters and visual spectacle for Greek cinema. As a complex genre, the historical film presents an unprecedented challenge to the researcher. Studying the representation of the German Occupation and the Greek Civil War on celluloid is a particularly discouraging and intimidating activity, as the researcher has to overcome important obstacles; he is obliged to distinguish from a plethora of films of those that could be analyzed in the study. He must also select from an expanding corpus of approaches to textual analysis those that could seem appropriate for the project. Furthermore, the researcher is obliged to be objective when discussing such controversial and over-politicized subject as the Civil War. He is also confronted with the difficulty to select from an abundance of studies on the 1940s, a research primarily based on Greek sources, those that can be employed in the study. Finally, he has to define a set of approaches that will lead to an original contribution