Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood: Passages to Nationhood in Greek Macedonia, 1870-1990 / Edition 1

by Anastasia N. Karakasidou

Overview

Deftly combining archival sources with evocative life histories, Anastasia Karakasidou brings welcome clarity to the contentious debate over ethnic identities and nationalist ideologies in Greek Macedonia. Her vivid and detailed account demonstrates that contrary to official rhetoric, the current people of Greek Macedonia ultimately derive from profoundly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Throughout the last century, a succession of regional and world conflicts, economic migrations, and shifting state formations has engendered an intricate pattern of population movements and refugee resettlements across the region. Unraveling the complex social, political, and economic processes through which these disparate peoples have become culturally amalgamated within an overarchingly Greek national identity, this book provides an important corrective to the Macedonian picture and an insightful analysis of the often volatile conjunction of ethnicities and nationalisms in the twentieth century.

"Combining the thoughtful use of theory with a vivid historical ethnography, this is an important, courageous, and pioneering work which opens up the whole issue of nation-building in northern Greece."--Mark Mazower, University of Sussex

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226424941
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	10/15/1997
Edition description:	1
Pages:	358
Sales rank:	834,136
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

List of Maps
Preface
Introduction
Pt. I: Constructing Visions of the Historical Past: The Politics of Reading, Writing, and Telling of History
1: Between Oral Memory and Written History: Re-Membering the Past
2: Exchanging Identities: The Makings of the Guvezna Market Community
3: Converging Frontiers of Greek and Bulgarian Nationalism: Religious Propaganda, Educational Competition, and National Enlightenment in Macedonia, 1870-1903
4: The Macedonian Struggle in Guvezna: Violence, Terror, and the Scepter of National Liberation, 1903-1908
Pt. II: Class Reformation and National Homogenization: Processes of Consolidation and Change Following the Advent of Greek Rule
5: Crossing the Moving Frontier: Group Formation and Social Closure in the Era of Refugee Settlement, 1922-1940
6: Administering the "New Lands" of Greek Macedonia: Class Reformation and National Homogenization, 1913-1940
7: Sponsoring Passages to Nationhood: Material and Spiritual Patronage in Assiros
Conclusion: Reconstructing the Passages of Nationhood
Afterword
Appendix: Genealogies
Tables
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

One rarely encounters a scholarly book as disturbing as this provocative work, a study of ethnicity in the Greek province of Macedonia. It is so controversial that Cambridge University Press, fearing for the safety of its staff in Greece, refused to publish it. Having spent some time with villagers of the region, Karakasidou (anthropology, Queens Coll., CUNY) maintains that Macedonia is not exclusively Greek, as nationalists claim, but is instead a multiethnic, multicultural region experiencing the political and religious upheavals engulfing the rest of the Balkans. Karakasidou's obsession with the truth has brought her death threats, apparently from outraged Greeks. Her powerfully written book is a resounding statement of human courage, reminding readers that there is no substitute for honesty and critical thought. This superb book is highly recommended for all large social science collections.John Xanthopoulos, Art Inst. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Library Journal