The Making of the Greek Genocide: Contested Memories of the Ottoman Greek Catastrophe (War and Genocide Book 23)

During and after World War I, over one million Ottoman Greeks were expelled from Turkey, a watershed moment in Greek history that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. And while few dispute the expulsion’s tragic scope, it remains the subject of fierce controversy, as activists have fought for international recognition of an atrocity they consider comparable to the Armenian genocide. This book provides a much-needed analysis of the Greek genocide as cultural trauma. Neither taking the genocide narrative for granted nor dismissing it outright, Erik Sjöberg instead recounts how it emerged as a meaningful but contested collective memory with both nationalist and cosmopolitan dimensions. "During and after World War I, over one million Ottoman Greeks were expelled from Turkey, a watershed moment in Greek history that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. And while few dispute the expulsion's tragic scope, it remains the subject of fierce controversy, as activists have fought for international recognition of an atrocity they consider comparable to the Armenian genocide. This book provides a much-needed analysis of the Greek genocide as cultural trauma. Neither taking the genocide narrative for granted nor dismissing it outright, Erik Sjöberg instead recounts how it emerged as a meaningful but contested collective memory with both nationalist and cosmopolitan dimensions."-- Back cover During and after World War I, over one million Ottoman Greeks were expelled from Turkey, a watershed moment in Greek history that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. And while few dispute the expulsion's tragic scope, it remains the subject of fierce controversy, as activists have fought for international recognition of an atrocity they consider comparable to the Armenian genocide. This book provides a much-needed analysis of the Greek genocide as cultural trauma. Neither taking the genocide narrative for granted nor dismissing it outright, Erik SjOberg instead recounts how it emerged as a meaningful but contested collective memory with both nationalist and cosmopolitan dimensions Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Cosmopolitan Memory and the Greek Genocide Narrative Chapter 1 Ottoman Twilight: The Background in Anatolia Chapter 2 “Right to Memory” From Catastrophe to the Politics of Identity Chapter 3 Nationalizing Genocide: The Recognition Process in Greece Chapter 4 The Pain of Others: Empathy and the Problematic Comparison Chapter 5 Becoming Cosmopolitan? The Americanized Genocide Narrative in the Diaspora Chapter 6 “Three Genocides, One Recognition” The “Christian Holocaust” Conclusion Reference List Index