Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Νεώτερη και Σύγχρονη Ελληνική ΙστορίαLibrary of the School of Philosophy
Author:
Fidetzis Alexios-Panagiotis
Supervisors info:
ΛΑΜΠΡΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΑ Επικ. Καθηγήτρια Νεότερης Ελληνικής Ιστορίας (από την Ελληνική Επανάσταση έως σήµερα), Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Σχολή ΕΚΠΑ
Παπαθανασίου Μαρία, Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια Νεότερης ΕυρωπαϊκήςΙστορίας
Πλουμίδης Σπυρίδων, Αναπλ. Καθηγητής Νεότερης ΕλληνικήςΙστορίας
Original Title:
Έμφυλες ταυτότητες στο αισθητικό λεξιλόγιο της «4ης Αυγούστου»
Translated title:
Gender identities in the aesthetic vocabulary of the "August 4th" regime
Summary:
This paper deals with the gender roles promoted by the regime of Ioannis Metaxas (1936-1941) in Greece, with a special focus on the ideal of masculinity found in the iconography produced by the "August 4th" dictatorship.
The first chapters of the text describe the historical context that gave birth to the dictatorship of "August 4th" and provide information on the regime and its mode of operation. In addition, the paper portrays the role of the regime’s youth organization, EON, as well as the youth publication that it produced, the magazine “H Neolaia” (The Youth). This particular magazine, which is an archive of the regime’s iconography, was also the main primary source of my work.
In addition, one can find a description of the mechanisms formulating gender identities in interwar Europe, with particular reference to the cases of fascist Italy and Hitler's Germany. This highlights the role of sport in shaping youth, and in particular boys, who develop discipline in power structures and fraternal ties with their peers - in an effort to simulate the relationships that the previous generation developed on the front lines of the Great War. There is also the way in which the aesthetics resulting from sports acquires political implications as through the development of their physique, young people fulfill a fantasy of national genealogy when their bodies approach an archaic ideal of beauty. Moreover, special mention is made to the work of Leni Riefenstahl, the artist who created a special look around the human body and through it developed part of the aesthetic vocabulary of the Third Reich. This approach was made in an effort to provide the reader with a basis on which one can decipher the patterns promoted by the printed material of the Metaxas regime.
As for the Greek case, the text initially describes a model of manhood based on the father-leader embodied by Metaxas himself. It also describes the ineffective declaration of the development of the "Third Greek Civilization" and the standards that are inscribed in it, through an amalgam of popular tradition, Christian Byzantium and Ancient Greece. The main sources for exploring the cultural fantasies of the regime were the work of the photographer Nelly’s, the film productions of EON and the iconography of the magazine “H Neolaia”.
This particular paper comes to look at the "4th of August" through the prism of gender roles that she attributed to the youth. Analyzing the relationship of the Metaxas dictatorship with the aesthetics and models developed by other fascist regimes, we can understand the regime's aspirations for the future of a dictatorship that, until its overthrow in 1941, did not manage to lead Greek society to its complete fascistization.
Main subject category:
History
Keywords:
4th of August Regime, Neolaia, Metaxas, EON, Fascism, Manhood, Manliness, Gender, Gender identity, Nelly’s, Riefenstahl
