Modern Greek literature

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Modern Greek literature is literature written in Modern Greek, starting in the late Byzantine era in the 11th century AD.^[1] It includes work not only from within the borders of the modern Greek state, but also from other areas where Greek was widely spoken, including Istanbul, Asia Minor, and Alexandria.^[2]

The first period of modern Greek literature includes texts concerned with philosophy and the allegory of daily life, as well as epic songs celebrating the akritai (Acritic songs), the most famous of which is Digenes Akritas. In the late 16th and early 17th century, Crete flourished under Venetian rule and produced two of the most important Greek texts; Erofili (ca. 1595) by Georgios Chortatzis and Erotokritos (ca. 1600) by Vitsentzos Kornaros. European Enlightenment had a profound effect on Greek scholars, most notably Rigas Feraios and Adamantios Korais, who paved the way for the Greek War of Independence in 1821.

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece, intellectual output was centered in the Ionian Islands, and in Athens. The Heptanese School was represented by poets such as Dionysios Solomos, who wrote the national anthem of Greece and Aristotelis Valaoritis, while the Athenian School included figures like Alexandros Rizos Rangavis and Panagiotis Soutsos. In the 19th, the Greek language question arose, as there was an intense dispute between the users of Demotic Greek, i.e. the language of everyday life, and those who favoured Katharevousa, a cultivated imitation of Ancient Greek. Kostis Palamas, Georgios Drossinis, and Kostas Krystallis, who belonged to the so-called 1880s Generation, revitalized Greek letters and helped cement Demotic Greek as the form most used in poetry. Prose also thrived, with writers like Emmanuel Rhoides, Georgios Vizyinos, Alexandros Papadiamantis, and Andreas Karkavitsas.

The most celebrated poets of the verge of the 20th century are Constantine P. Cavafy, Angelos Sikelianos, Kostas Varnalis, and Kostas Karyotakis. As of prose, Nikos Kazantzakis, is the best-known Greek novelist outside Greece.^[1] Other important writers of that period are Grigorios Xenopoulos, and Konstantinos Theotokis, while Penelope Delta is noted for her children's stories and novels. The Generation of the '30s first introduced modernist trends in Greek literature. It included writers Stratis Myrivilis, Elias Venezis, Yiorgos Theotokas, and M. Karagatsis, and poets Giorgos Seferis, Andreas Embirikos, Yiannis Ritsos, Nikos Engonopoulos, and Odysseas Elytis. Seferis and Elytis were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1963 and 1979 respectively.

In post-war decades many significant poets were published, such as Tasos Leivaditis, Manolis Anagnostakis, Titos Patrikios, Kiki Dimoula and Dinos Christianopoulos. Dido Sotiriou, Stratis Tsirkas, Alki Zei, Menis Koumandareas, Costas Taktsis, and Thanassis Valtinos are routinely mentioned as some of the most important post-war prose writers, while Iakovos Kambanellis has been described as the "father of post–World War II Greek theater".^[3] The 1980s saw the novel take over from poetry as the most prestigious genre in Greek literature, thanks to writers such as Eugenia Fakinou and Rhea Galanaki. Among more recent figures who have achieved critical acclaim and/or commercial success are Dimitris Lyacos, Petros Markaris, Chrysa Dimoulidou, Isidoros Zourgos, Christos Chomenidis, and Giannis Palavos.