Apokopos : We-Narrations of Nostalgia and Misogyny from Renaissance Crete

Abstract

This article explores the collective character of dead men in the underworld as represented in the first printed work of Modern Greek literature: the dream poem Apokopos (c. 1400–1420). Using discourse analysis, it demonstrates that rather than the action-based we symptomatic of medieval narratives, this poem showcases a mind- and emotion-based we, reflecting the Renaissance spirit. Through exploring the we-narrations and the external depiction of the consciousness of a collective character comprising two brothers who represent all the dead men in the narrative, the article points out the potential of the character to convey nostalgic emotional responses to the narrator’s utterances, and thereby elicit narrative empathy from the audience. It argues that the particular discourse representation of the collective character of dead men aids in foregrounding the theme of misogyny in the poem. Additionally, it suggests that, as such, it contributed to the great popularity and wide circulation of the work during the period of Ottoman rule.