AbstractsWomens Studies

This thesis examines four different works of modern Greek women’sprose from 1938-1987, and explores how four different authors approachissues of expression and representation. It also considers theimplications of these narrative practices within the scope of feministtheory while maintaining the specificity of the Greek case. The firstchapter focuses on Margarita Lymberaki’s ¿a ¿¿T¿¿a¿ape¿¿a [Straw Hats] (1946), and analyzes the novel within the context of boththe Bildungsroman and the egalitarian feminism of Greece in the1940’s. The second and third chapters correspond to the works ¿¿s¿¿¿e¿¿¿¿te¿ [Difficult Nights] (1938) and ¿ ¿ass¿¿d¿a¿a¿ ¿¿¿¿¿¿ [Kassandra and the Wolf] (1977) by Melpo Axioti and Margarita Karapanou,respectively. Both of these texts question the definitions and boundariesof narrative: Axioti through radical poetic experimentation and Karapanouthrough grotesque subject matter. Finally, the thesis concludes with ananalysis of Alki Zei’s ¿¿¿¿aß¿¿¿ast¿¿¿¿t¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿a [Achilles’ Fiancee] (1987) as a novel which incorporates bothexperimental and traditional narrative techniques in order to articulatewomen’s experience through an artistic medium. Although theseworks are not always representative of general trends or movementsin Greek literature, they are paradigmatic of different approaches towomen’s writing and provide a useful format for exploring differenttechniques that women have adopted when entering a predominantly maleliterary canon in Greece.