A lecture about the emergence and promulgation of radical anarchist ideas in Greece between 1874 to 1940 will be presented by the poet and journalist Dimitris Troaditis, on Thursday 18 July 2019, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

This lecture will outline an alternative perspective of subversive and radical ideas in Greece. One which rescues the anxieties of ordinary people. One which can only be uncovered, if you dig like a grave robber, under the deep geological layers of grand narratives. Because it is there, that can be found scattered 'ceramic' fragments of struggles that have passed.

In essence a book will be presented where attempts are made through its pages to bring to light stories that look lost behind the dusty pages of official records. Highlights of social and revolutionary struggles, that as in the case of any annoying narrative that blurs the image of a national and sovereign narrative, remain systematically obscured by official historiography. These are the stories of the history and the actions of the first anarchist, libertarian and utopian socialists who appeared from the middle of the 19th century onwards in Greece.

The task of such historiography seems groundbreaking because history as a method involves the fundamental attribute of authority; the requirement to tell in retrospect, to periodize and explain, based on its current aspirations, the living experience of the protagonists. And in this endeavor, history usually claims parables of validity higher than its own sources. Beyond the other difficulties, the attempt of history as presented here also contains a critical methodological problem, as it must find those forms of narrative that will not fall into the usual methodological claims of sovereignty.

Dimitris Troaditis was born in Athens in 1959. Towards the end of the 1970s and the early 1980 he participated in a shadow theatre and musical group. He studied journalism and worked at various publishing houses and bookshops in Athens. In 1992 he moved permanently to Melbourne where he worked as an editor and journalist. He has released six poetry collections, the most recent being ‘Sideways Glances’ where it was presented most recently at the GCM Greek Writers Festival 2019, held at the Greek Centre, and of which he was member of the organising committee. Many of his poems have been published in a variety of literature journals and blogs in Greece and Australia, and in both Greek and English. For quite some time now he has been organizing poetry readings and in involved in poetry translations. He is the administrator of the website ‘The Sieve’ http://tokoskino.wordpress.com. Another interest is Greek, Australian and global social history, where he has translated countless political and historical articles, most of which have appeared on the website ‘Neither God nor Master’ http://ngnm.vrahokipos.net He is a member of international institutes and research groups involved labour, radical and social history.

When: Thursday 18 July, 7.00pm
Where: Greek Center (Mezz, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne)