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" “Six Nights on the Acropolis” (“'[special characters omitted]”), a novel by George Seferis: An English translation from the Greek, with introduction and notes "
Susan Matthias
J. Chioles
Document Type
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Latin Dissertation
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Language of Document
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English
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Record Number
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52729
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Doc. No
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TL22683
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Call number
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3205661
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Main Entry
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Susan Matthias
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Title & Author
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“Six Nights on the Acropolis” (“'[special characters omitted]”), a novel by George Seferis: An English translation from the Greek, with introduction and notes\ Susan Matthias
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College
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New York University
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Date
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2006
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Degree
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Ph.D.
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student score
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2006
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Page No
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419
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Abstract
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This dissertation is an English translation, with introduction and notes by the translator, of Nobel Laureate George Seferis's only completed novel, Six Nights on the Acropolis, originally written in Modern Greek. Poet George Seferis (1900--1971) had an enduring fascination with writing fiction. Six Nights on the Acropolis was drafted between 1926 and 1930, following his return to Greece after six years in Paris. By the time he returned to the work in 1954, after a life-affirming visit to Cyprus, Seferis had long been established as the poetic voice of Greece and was pursuing a diplomatic career, which culminated in the position of Ambassador to Great Britain. Six Nights on the Acropolis was published posthumously in 1974. With its juxtaposition of diary entries and third-person narration, the novel abounds in compelling passages describing sexual passion, frustration and fulfillment. Besides providing a glimpse into Seferis's formative years as a poet, Six Nights is a love story, as the protagonist Stratis (Seferis's alter ego) is tormented, then sexually liberated, through a relationship with an older, experienced woman who guides the young poet out of his narcissism and helps him find his voice as an artist. Six Nights on the Acropolis provides a snapshot of Athens, a chaotic metropolis bursting at the seams after an onslaught of refugees (captured in the novel's minor characters), following the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922. It is also the story of seven young people, drawn together---intellectually, emotionally, sexually---and gradually drifting apart, as they unsuccessfully attempt to communicate during six full-moon visits to the Acropolis. After a contemplative start, in which the intellectual and emotional premises of the novel are set up, Six Nights gains momentum as the full force of desire takes over. At once a homage to Gide, Valéry and Proust, a diary novel in the "Young Werther" mode, and a definitive Künstlerroman, Six Nights on the Acropolis is an intriguing read---for what it tells us about Seferis's artistic apprenticeship, about Greece forced into abrupt urbanization, and about young people wandering city streets and experiencing transient loves during the late 1920s.
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Subject
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Language, literature and linguistics; Diary; Greek; Novel; Seferis, George; Six Nights on the Acropolis; Comparative literature; Literature; 0298:Literature; 0295:Comparative literature
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Added Entry
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J. Chioles
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Added Entry
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New York University
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