HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS SEMINAR PROGRAMME NEXT WEEK

The History and Culture of the Ionian Islands
THE DURRELL SCHOOL OF CORFU • SEMINAR • 16–21 MAY 2010


UPDATE, October 2014: Now published


PROGRAMME


Monday 17 May
LITERATURE IN THE IONIAN ISLANDS AND THE IONIAN ISLANDS IN LITERATURE
10.00 – 11.30 a.m. Session 1
Introduction by the Academic Director of the Seminar, ANTHONY HIRST
Keynote lecture by the Moderator of the Seminar, PETER MACKRIDGE
Seven Bards for Seven Islands: poetry and language in the 19th-century Ionian Islands
Followed by questions and discussion.
11.30 a.m. – 12.15 p.m. Break for coffee
12.15–1.45 p.m. Session 2
ELENI TSOUGARAKI
British travellers in Greece
SEÁN McCRUM & PADDY SAMMON will introduce their performance project — in which we are all invited to participate — based on The free besieged (Οι ελεύθεροι πολιορκισμένοι) by Dionysios Solomos. (The performance will be on Friday.)
1.45 – 3.30 p.m. Break for lunch
3.30 – 5.00 p.m. Excursion 1 (unconfirmed)
A visit to the old JEWISH QUARTER of the town
5.00–7.15 p.m. Session 3
JOSEPH WILSON
Using Corfu: the island in the Homeric epics and Apollonius Rhodius
BENEDETTA BESSI
The Ionian Islands in the Liber Insularum of Cristoforo Buondelmonti
RICHARD PINE
Corfu in the writings of Gerald and Lawrence Durrell
7.30 – 9.00 p.m. Film

Tuesday 18 May
THE HISTORY OF THE ISLANDS DURING THE PROTECTORATE: GREEK & BRITISH PERSPECTIVES
10.00 – 11.00 a.m. Session 4
ROBERT HOLLAND
Via or Vita? — The British in the Mediterranean since 1800
11.00 – 11.30 a.m. Break for coffee
11.30–4.30 p.m. p.m. Excursion 2
A visit to the SERBIAN MUSEUM followed by a boat trip (1.30 p.m.) to VIDOS ISLAND where we can see the Serbian Mausoleum, have lunch (2.30 p.m.) and go swimming (optional!). The meze lunch is included for those paying the full registration fee; 12 euros each for others; buy your own drinks).
4.30 – 6.00 p.m. Opportunity to return to your hotel
6.00–8.00 p.m. Session 5
ANTHONY SEYMOUR (paper read in his absence by Anthony Hirst)
How to work the system and thrive: Ionians and pseudo-Ionians in the Levant 1815–1864
GEORGE LEONTSINIS
The Ionian Islands and the Greek Revolution
ELENI CALLIGAS
‘A history of the peasants printed in gaol’ and other unknown texts by the
1849 Cephalonian rebels imprisoned at Argostoli: a first presentation.


Wednesday 19 May
PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, BYZANTINE CHURCHES AND OTHER MONUMENTS
10.00 a.m. – 1.30 p.m. Excursion 3
A guided tour of the Classical and Byzantine monuments of the Kanoni peninsula, the site of the original ancient city of Kerkyra. The tour will be led by MARIA NAKOU from the 21st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and ANNA AMYGDALA from the 8th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities.
1.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. Break for lunch
4.00–5.30 p.m. Session 6
ATHANASIA GLYCOFRYDI-LEONTSINI
Reception of Scottish Philosophy in the Ionian Islands during the British Protectorate
EVANGELIA SKOUFARI
Aspects of the coexistence of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in the Ionian Islands during Venetian rule, as seen through Greek and Italian historiography
5.30 – 7.0 p.m. Excursion 3
A visit to the PHILHARMONIA SOCIETY, with KOSTAS KARDAMIS will show us round the not-yet-opened museum there, and then take us on to the Town Hall (formerly a theatre and venue for musical performances), and the bandstand on the Spianada. All within five minutes walk of the Durrell School.

7.00 – 8.30... p.m. Book Launch
An informal social gathering with short talks, featuring the recently published book The Ionian Islands and Epirus: a cultural history, introduced by the author, JIM POTTS. Richard Pine will say something of the forthcoming volume Autumn Gleanings: Corfu Memoirs and Poems by Theodore Stephanides, mentor of Gerald and Lawrence Durrell. Anthony Hirst will say speak about Mark Davies’ forthcoming translation of Constantine Theotokis’ Slaves in their Chains. Other participants in the seminar with recent publications are invited to bring them along (with copies for sale if possible) and introduce them.

Thursday 20 May
LOCAL MUSIC & LOCAL HISTORY
10.00 – 11.30 a.m. Session 7
KOSTAS KARDAMIS
Music in the Ionian Islands: an extended lecture with recordings
11.30 a.m. – 12.15 p.m. Break for coffee
12.15–1.45 p.m. Session 8
JIM POTTS
The Suliots in Suli and Corfu
ATHANASIOS GEKAS
“Thalassoviotoi” – Living off the Sea. Corfu port workers and the district of Mandouki in the nineteenth century.
1.45 – 3.30 p.m. Break for lunch
3.30 — 6.00 p.m. Excursion 4
A walking tour of the Mandouki district led by Jim Potts and Athanasios Gekas.

6.00 — 8.00 p.m. (or 9.30 p.m.) Session 9
MARK DAVIES
Constantine Theotokis and Giuseppe di Lampedusa: Literary responses to turbulent times
(This paper will be read by Anthony Hirst; Mark Davies has been unable to get here from Australia.)
The paper will be followed by the screening of VISCONTI’S FILM IL GATOPARDO (THE LEOPARD), the film version of one of the two novels to which Mark Davies’ paper principally refers. The film lasts three hours; we can either see the whole film now (ending about 9.30 p.m.), or postpone the second half until some time (to be agreed) on Friday.


Friday 21 May
ART AND CELEBRATION
The 21st of May is a public holiday in Corfu — the anniversary of the Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece on this day in 1864. The day's sessions of the seminar will be organized to allow us to attend some of the celebrations. No times can be given until we have more information about the celebrations.
Session 10
ANASTASIOS KOUTSOURIS (co-author DENISE ALEVIZOU will not be present)
Influences and interactions of imperial and indigenous cultures in Heptanese painting
of the 18th century
ADAM SMITH
Corfu canes: olive wood companions from the groves of the Phaeacians
Session 11
Performance of the project based on Solomos The free besieged (see Monday)

Anthony Hirst