‘Reading’ and ‘Translating’ Emotions: Nationalism in Contemporary Greek Cinema by Sophia Sakellis A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Research) Department of Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Sydney October 2016 ABSTRACT This study explores emotions related to nationalism, and their manifestations in contemporary Greek cinema. It also investigates the reasons and mechanisms giving rise to nationalism, and how it is perceived, expressed and ‘translated’ into other cultures. A core focus within the nationalist paradigm is the theme of national identity, with social exclusion ideologies such as racism operating in the background. Two contemporary Greek films have been chosen, which deal with themes of identity, nationalism, xenophobia, anger and fear in different contexts. The study is carried out by drawing on the theories of emotion, language, translation and cinema, to analyse the visual and audio components of the two films and ascertain their translatability to an Australian audience. Both films depict a similar milieu to each other, which is plagued by the lingering nature of all the unresolved political and national issues faced by the Greek nation, in addition to the economic crisis, a severe refugee crisis, and externally imposed policy issues, as well as numerous other social problems stemming from bureaucracy, red tape and widespread state-led corruption, which have resulted in massive rates of unemployment and financial hardship that have befallen a major part of the population. In spite of their topicality, the themes are universal and prevalent in a number of countries to varying degrees, as cultural borders become increasingly integrated, both socially and economically. It is concluded that nationalism and its underlying emotions are readily translatable between the target cultures of Greece and Australia, as they remain at the core of our political discourse and sociocultural context. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the following people who have generously assisted me in completing this thesis. First, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Dr Panayota Nazou for always being there and steering me in the right direction until the very end. Her tireless encouragement, knowledge, experience, work ethic and help have been invaluable and outstanding throughout my candidature. I want to express my gratitude to Professor Vrasidas Karalis, my auxiliary supervisor, whose knowledge, suggestions and encouragement have been stimulating in the course of this study. His published books and papers have been an invaluable source of research material for this thesis. My special thanks to Dr Anthony Dracopoulos for his general assistance and stimulating discussions. I wish to thank Dr Petro Alexiou for his valuable suggestions when I was researching suitable films for this thesis, and for generously providing me with his copy of Red Hulk when it was not available anywhere else on the Internet or in Australia. Finally, I also want to thank my family, past and present, for all their steadfast support and encouragement. 3 Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1 – Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................ 14 1.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 14 1.2. Emotions ........................................................................................................... 14 1.2.1. History of Emotions ................................................................................... 15 1.2.2. Types and Classification of Emotions ....................................................... 17 1.2.3. Emotions and Culture ................................................................................ 19 1.2.4. Language of Emotions ............................................................................... 20 1.2.5. National Identity and Culture..................................................................... 23 1.2.6. Nationalism and Related Emotions ............................................................ 27 1.3. Translation ........................................................................................................ 30 1.3.1. Philosophy and Theories of Language ....................................................... 30 1.3.2. Cultural Communication ............................................................................ 32 1.3.3. Translation Theory and Practice ................................................................ 36 1.3.4. Translating Cultures ................................................................................... 39 1.4. Cinema .............................................................................................................. 41 1.4.1. Film Theory ............................................................................................... 42 1.4.2. Genres ........................................................................................................ 43 1.4.3. Audiovisual Translation ............................................................................. 46 1.4.4. National Identity in Contemporary Greek Cinema .................................... 48 1.5. Concluding Remarks ......................................................................................... 53 Chapter 2 – ‘Reading’ Emotions .............................................................................................. 54 2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 54 2.2. Plato’s Academy ............................................................................................... 56 2.2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 56 2.2.2. Assuming a False Identity .......................................................................... 57 2.2.3. Shifting Foundations .................................................................................. 63 4 2.2.4. Identity Crisis or Liberating Self-Discovery.............................................. 66 2.3. Red Hulk ........................................................................................................... 69 2.3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 69 2.3.2. A State of Corruption ................................................................................. 72 2.3.3. Profound Alienation and the Outlet of Sport ............................................. 75 2.3.4 Initiation and Conversion ............................................................................ 79 2.3.5 Innocent Victims, Desperate Killers ........................................................... 81 2.4. Concluding Remarks ......................................................................................... 85 Chapter 3 – ‘Translating’ Emotions ......................................................................................... 86 3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 86 3.2. Plato’s Academy ............................................................................................... 90 3.2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 90 3.2.2. The Visuals of Parody ................................................................................ 90 3.2.3. What’s in a Name and What Lies Beyond ................................................. 95 3.2.4. Hooliganism, Rock and Social Inclusion ................................................. 100 3.2.5. Appealing Emotions................................................................................. 104 3.3. Red Hulk.......................................................................................................... 107 3.3.1. Introduction .............................................................................................. 107 3.3.2. The Visuals and Idiolects of Violence ..................................................... 107 3.3.3. Engaging Subtitles ................................................................................... 114 3.3.4. Translating Vulgarity ............................................................................... 116 3.3.5. Fear, Police Corruption and Complicity .................................................. 119 3.4. Concluding Remarks ....................................................................................... 121 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 123 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 129 5 Introduction The purpose of this thesis is to explore emotions related to nationalism, as portrayed in contemporary Greek cinema. The following discussion aims to define nationalism, the reasons and mechanisms giving rise to it, and how it is perceived, expressed and ‘translated’ into other cultures. Nationalism is generally considered as an extreme form of patriotism mixed