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Marios Hakkas tells the tale of a man whose soul is divided between rebellion and compliance. Will he choose the uncertainty of raising his fist against the powers that be? Or will he cower in his corner, secure in his settled life? Hakkas’ short story is a wonderful example of political literature. Download the file here and find out more (pdf, 2.6mb).
Author biography here.
p.s. You will require the latest version of Adobe Acrobat to open the file. This is free and can be found here.
Today marks the 41st anniversary of the coup d’etat and the coming to power of a group of colonels in Greece. This led to a 7-year dictatorship which imposed its policy of ‘Πατρίς-θρησκεία-οικογένεια’ under a cloak of conservatism, anti-communism and censorship. Many notable Greeks of democratic and left wing beliefs, such as Mikis Theodorakis and Melina Mercouri had to flee the country, while the ordinary folk saw their human rights infringed upon in the name of ‘order’. A shift to extreme right-wing ideals took place (within the military government) which gave a free hand for the persecution of citizens who were suspected of ‘anti-Hellenic’ (ανθελληνική) activity, a tag still used by the right. This period also became known for the activity of the notorious ESA (Ελληνική Στρατιωτική Αστυνομία) which arrested, interrogated and tortured thousands of civilians during its reign of terror. The Πολυτεχνείο events of November 1973 and the Cyprus disaster of the following July brought on the collapse of the junta and the long (and still ongoing) process of healing.
Later in the same year we had a series of concerts with Mikis Theodorakis and other artists, culminating in the film by Nikos Koundouros called Τραγούδια της Φωτιάς (Songs of Fire), with political, anti-fascist content. Many famous names of the Greek music spectrum took part. Watch a videoclip below:
You can watch the whole concert here.
More on the Greek junta here.
Watch a video with images from the junta and the Polytechneio events here:
Η φωτογραφία στην οποία αναφέρεται η Σαρρή στο βιβλίο Τα Γενέθλια:
This is the photo Sarri refers to in her book Τα Γενέθλια.
