Greek Dystopia in British Women Travellers’ Discourse

Greece has always occupied a prevalent position in European philosophy. During the Enlightenment, the Greco-Roman culture gained a new impetus, which paved the way for the surge of the Grand Tour and established Italy as a popular travel destination amongst European travellers who yearned to be in close communion with its ancient sites. Unlike Italy, Greece still posed a challenge to the average travel writer, since it functioned as a bridge between Europe and the Orient. The gradual shift of focus from Neoclassical ideals to Northernism, which conveniently conformed to the nation-building Anglo-Saxon paradigm, marked a parallel reversal of cultural order, which resulted in the view of Greece as a land of piracy and banditry, conditions which intensified its perception as the Oriental Other and led British intellectuals to associate the Greek nation with nearby countries on various levels. Considering the parallel emergence of the “pseudosciences”, which venerated the image of the Nordic race and persistently viewed other nations as the Other, Greece was automatically placed as an alien culture in the light of Social Darwinism. During its war of independence, Greece became the subject of ardent political and cultural debates, which favoured its autonomy from the Ottoman yoke, yet undermined its complete transformation into an independent state.

The focal point of this book is British women travellers’ perceptions of Greece and the Orient from the late-eighteenth century until the late-Victorian era. The construction of a Greek dystopia will be explored in relation to the historical background that fuelled the negative conceptualisation of the Greek nation as mongrel, unruly, indolent and perilous to the British imperialist agenda. This book, therefore, sheds light on British women travellers’ efforts to subvert patriarchal authority and engage in predominantly male activities, during which they are purposefully or unconsciously led to several misconceptions regarding the Greek cause.