Prelude to Nationhood: Macedonism in the 19th century

Location: Greek Centre, Mezzanine, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 
Date: THURSDAY 31/8/2017 @ 7:00pm 
Presenter: Dimitris Gonis 
Entry: FREE

Synopsis

The Greek consensus, both in the homeland and diaspora, is that the 'modern Macedonian nation is a recent and artificial construct; an exclusively Titoist initiative brought into existence with the establishment of the People's Republic of Macedonia in 1944. 

Central to the 'modern Macedonian' narrative has been Macedonism; an ideology commonly viewed as an extension of Tito's aim to convert geographical Macedonia's Slavs and Slavophones into ethnic Macedonians. There is however evidence which suggests that Macedonism i.e., the notion of a 'Macedonian nation', albeit limited to a few individuals, already existed in the middle of the 19^th century. 

It has, for example, been suggested that the linguistic endeavours of certain Macedono-Bulgarian educators during this period is clear evidence of an emerging linguistic Macedonism; in other words, a nascent but extant 'Macedonian consciousness'.   

This talk discusses the emergence of the first Macedonists and at least one man's clear definition of 'Macedonian nationhood', placing early Macedonism within the context of 19^th century nation-building.

Bio

Dimitri Gonis is a freelance writer and poet as well as a translator of academic articles and one book. For the past seven years he has worked as a sessional lecturer at La Trobe University, where he teaches he teaches a number of subjects: 'Ethnic and Civil Conflict in Southern Europe and in Cyprus', 'Transterritorial Hellenism' and modern Greek. He is currently completing his PhD which is titled: The Politics of Memory and Nationhood: Neo-Macedonism in Australia.

Sponsors

We thank the following donor: George Galanopoulos.

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