Νεοελληνική επιστολογραφία 17ος - 19ος αιώνας

Abstract

Correspondence as a branch of literature has been carried out continuously from the ancient times throughout the Byzantine era and from that time all the way to the period of the Turkish occupation. Letter writing has been imposed as a necessity in the service of communication. The correspondence heritage of the past has been adopted by most of the post Byzantine’s as well as by many Greek’s of the early ottoman occupation. This heritage passed through generations mainly by hand written collections. These collections played a significant role in the forms the structure and the types of the prime Modern Greek correspondence. The seventeen century could be considered as a turning point era for the Modern Greek letter writing while the Greeks were making an effort to gather their remaining strength so as to fulfil their intellectual demands. During this century correspondence developed rapidly. As a result of this development the need of conducting manuals so as to impose the limits within the correspondence was carried out, was emerging. The first author who conducted such a manual presenting types of letter writing was the illustrious philosopher Theophilos Corydalis. This premier edition titled Essay of Correspondence Types was printed in 1625. It refreshed old fashion practices not only by being the first printed hand book but by putting a code of letter writing into an everyday use. The book of Corydalis has been reprinted three more times 1768, 1774, and 1786. The impact of his essay was immense as many others tried to imitate him both in their private correspondence as well as in printing similar epistolary manuals during the following centuries. His apprentice Eugene Giannoulis was considered to be one of the most gifted letter writers of his time. His natural talent combined with a profound academic background transformed correspondence to an aesthetic achievement. In his letters the Byzantine heritage meets with every day demands. The language that he used was a mixture of antiquate style along with a modern one. In his letters he included numerous information concerning war events between Venice and Turkey as well as other issues of ecclesiastical and literature interest. He could as well be considered as a theoretician of this genre for the sixty four model letters he composed. Eugene’s apprentice Gordios was also considered as one the most important writers of his time. Though he was not as gifted as his tutor his letters contained considerable sorts of information about his birth place that was also the main theatre of his action. Most of his letters were addressed to the patriarchy as well as to powerful executives of the Vlach court. The orientation of his writing remained practical as well as spiritual. The language he used was a combination of the one commoners used combined with archaizing elements. His correspondence was gathered in a corpus by his student’s after his death and it was mainly used for tutorial purposes. Francis Scoufos a Cretan writer compiled another one manual during the second half of the seventeen century. The innovation he proposed in his book called the Courier was directly connected with the usage of language. He was the first author of a hand book to write in the spoken manner of his era. Other than this the Courier was a manual combining the origins of rhetoric forms and types with the ones used in church. His work has been strongly influenced by the Italian correspondence manuals. Regarding this his book played a significant role in the evolution procedure of the Greek correspondence The following writer did not introduce any kind of change or improvement to the procedure mentioned above yet in his own way he enriched the correspondence legacy. Alexandros Mavrokodratos was an eminent figure within the correspondence community of his time. He was a man of political power and the first Greek high rank official of the ottoman government. He played a significant role in forming the terms of the Karlovits treaty, terminating a long lasting conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Venice Republic. In his correspondence Mavrokordatos used a strictly archaizing style. He referred to issues apart from politics and diplomatic transactions to the fields of education, parental guidance, friendship as well as to others concerning theological moral an ecclesiastical matters. His letters were compiled in a corpus and published a little wile after his death in 1712. This collection was made to serve both historical and tutorial purposes. Nikiforos Thetokis was last distinguished writer whose letters were profoundly influenced by the ecclesiastic rhetoric. He was elected Archbishop of Venice a position he never undertook as a protest against the terms the Vatican imposed to the Greek community of the city and the propaganda towards the orthodox doctrine. In his letters he widely referred to the issue of his election. He also referred to maters of spiritual and moral importance. He avoided flamboyant writing so his correspondence was written in a plain almost mathematical way. The mid eighteen century was a turning point in the economic and cultural development for the Greeks. This fact could be detected by the emergence of the Venetian printed hand books concerning letter writing. These books soon took precedence over older forms especially over the essay of Corydalis. Spanning over a period of seventy six years and with at least twenty two printed editions the correspondence manuals carried out in Venice implemented not only a massive merchant success but a genuine alteration in the established practices until that time. Spyridon Milias introduced his very own hand book in 1757. In his manual good Greek and Italian correspondence were combined with predominant Renaissance trends of the period served as a foundation for Milias to create a comprehensive theoretical but most significantly a practical guide. The second manual titled New Epistolary was printed in 1764. This epistolary following Milias one derived from the same theoretical origin there for showed a tendency to become involved into even more practical issues. The influence of these editions was immense as they greatly enriched the letter writing techniques. The epistolary of Dimitros Darvaris that was printed in Vienna in 1808 could be seen as an attempt to renew the genre in Greek by using elements from the German correspondence heritage without breaking though the bonds of the Greek one. At the same time this book provided comprehensive guidance to merchants and their assistances. From that time on a considerable number of epistolary collections were printed to serve mainly tutorial needs but also to feed back the needs of the uprising class of merchants. The vast majority of these were written in a language close enough to the common one while some others attempted to use archaizing language to meet these same needs. The author of two of these epistolary’s printed between 1815 and 1835 was Neophytes Dukas a well known philology scholar. In his hand books he proudly suggested the exclusive use of the archaizing language as the only one suitable for comprehending the ancient Greek legacy. Other than this the contents of his letters included moral philological as well as of personal interest issues. These books were also printed to serve mainly tutorial purposes. During the late eighteen century a dispute commenced concerning the structural form of the language that the emerging Greek nation was about to use. The origins of this dispute derived mainly from the financial and political unbalance between the upper class and the Church on one hand and the rapidly emerging middle class on the other. This dispute soon turned out to be an open conflict that lasted more than a century and had an enormous impact on the Modern Greek education, literature and other fields of public life. It was a struggle between the renovating forces trying to impose achievements established in the Western Europe into the Modern Greek state and the conservative ones who intended to remain untouched retaining their privileges provided with by the Ottoman leadership during their occupation. The linguistic issue was just the occasion. The tree different types of versions proposed were the archaizing one the common and a mixture of them both. Each of the following writers took an active role in this public dispute and expressed their arguments through their correspondence. Never the less they expanded the limits of the letter writing process by introducing new forms and techniques as well as by including modern theories. In his correspondence Stefan Kommitas mainly supported his tendency for the usage of the archaizing language as a dominant one. He published an encyclopaedia in which he introduced a reformed perspective for the use of Corydalis essay. On the other hand the teacher from Ioannina Athanasios Psalidas in his letters he supported the exclusive use of the common language in all fields of activities. He was the first to introduce the teaching of mathematics in his home town. In his correspondence he referred to this fact as well as to the efforts he made to overcome the suspicion he received by the local bishop and other tutors ignorant of his work. With Adamandios Corey the Greek correspondence entered a totally new era. He managed to transform the genre into a literate aesthetic achievement. In his more than twelve hundred letters written in a most eloquent way he combined historic accuracy with scientific preciseness. Corey was indeed a gifted writer. He was the first who totally ignored the restrictions and the binding forms of writing. His letters were written with grace in a free style way. The difficult years of his studies in Paris, the French Revolution and his struggle for academic success were the contents of his prime correspondence mainly with an old friend in Smyrna Demetrius Lotos. Soon Corey became a public figure among the Greeks who lived in Europe. He became even better known by his publishing activities. He was the first to give to a wide public the works of ancient Greek authors. A most interesting innovation he introduced was that he used some of his letters as prefaces in his editions. Corey very soon became aware that his letters of private interest became open to the public scrutiny. Though annoying he took advantage of it as well as of the impact his letters had to affect and manipulate public opinion. He used his correspondence as a podium from which he gave advice for public issues such as the enforcement of free speech and republic institutions to the newly emerged Greek state. Having a complete awareness of his impact to the public sphere he extended his repertory to all aspects of everyday life. Though an academic celebrity he never stopped trying hard for the intellectual prosperity of his nation. The language he used in his correspondence as well as in all of his works was mainly a combination of the archaizing one clenched of foreign words and ancient grammar and of the common one spoken during his current time. This linguistic innovation attracted vivid critics from the conservative scholars. Those who adopted his practices were criticised equally. Constantine Koumas was the one who putted Corey’s ideas into function. Been a distinguish physicist Koumas soon became interested in teaching. He was given the chance to do so by establishing the Philological Gymnasium of Smyrna. This institution being financed by liberal merchants of the city was ready to embrace new teaching methods combined with new subjects. Mathematics and physics were introduced to the schools schedule. The conservative minority though guided by the bishop of Smyrna strongly opposed to this innovation. These circles were encouraged by foreign diplomats who foresee in Koumas movement the intellectual preparation for a revolt. Both Koumas and his school were brutally harassed literally and metaphorically. In his correspondence Koumas described his efforts to maintain this school in a working order as well as his personal struggle to succeed in this goal. Inspired by Corey’s ideas concerning the language issue Koumas fully adopted them in his letters as well as in all of the printed editions of his works. Another eminent physicist Constantine Vardalahos also introduced similar innovations to the schools he teaches. In his correspondence, written in common language, he described his efforts to succeed in his task. Vardalahos was considered to be one of the most significant tutors of his time. His tutorial career in Backrest and Odessa enriched the very essence of education among Greek’s who lived at the region of the Black Sea. In his letters addressed to Corey, Koumas and Oikonomos he made his personal commitment to the intellectual progress of the Greeks evident. Constantine Oikonomos was the successor of Koumas as director of the Philological Gymnasium of Smyrna. Though he entered priesthood at an early age for a considerable period of his life he harboured liberal ideas. Having an excellent academic background he was invited to assist Koumas to his difficult and risky task. During the time he worked as a tutor in Smyrna’s Gymnasium Oikonomos published o book containing doctrinal issues. The Patriarchy accused him of diversity from the orthodox doctrine but that was just an occasion. The church of Constantinople was displeased with him not for his writings but for his association with Koumas and his practices. Despite the accusations Oikonomos stud up to his tutorial duties with complete success. His emigration to Russia and his attachment to the conservative surround of its upper-class elite made Oikonomos to renounce his liberal past as well as Corey’ s ideas. In his writing habits he adopted most of the traditional forms of the past. Not only had he renounced his past but also the lingual choices of his prime correspondence. The considerable numbers of letters addressed to high church officials made him use a strict way of writing. On the other hand the letters he addressed to his family were written in an intimate way. The contradictions of his character were reflected to his correspondence. Theophilos Kaires a mathematics and philosophy scholar was at first among the close associates of Corey. He fully embraced Corey’s ideas in almost every mater. After his studies in Paris he worked as a school teacher to Kydonies and Smyrna. He finally was established in the island of Andros were he created an Orphanage. He was seriously involved in the cause of the Greek national revolution and participated in almost all of the national assemblies that took place representing Andros. All these activities were mentioned in his correspondence. His wide circle of friends and correspondences seemed to deteriorate after the closure of his Orphanage. Kaires was far from being a reckless writer. His activities didn’t allow to experiment in his writings. He formed a diverse type of the orthodox religion called ‘theosebia’. It derived from the Christianity and the ancient Greek legacy. He was totally taken over by his belief. His work as well as his correspondence reflected his effort to expand his new religion. He was imprisoned for these ideas and finally died in prison. His faith died with him. The independence of Greece created a new political social and economic surround. This new environment suffered the necessity of reorientation in all aspects of everyday life. During the nineteen century the compilation of few manuals of letter writing techniques was a representation of a new social plot generated a new political unconscious capable of exercising social control. This ideology came about by the manual of Abraham Omiroles but mostly with the hand book of Gregory Palaiologos who also introduced the pleasure of letter reading and writing as a pedagogical form.

Η παρούσα εργασία εξετάζει την εξέλιξη της επιστολής, ως γραμματειακού είδους και κυρίως σε ότι αφορά τη σύνθεση, τις πηγές, τη γλώσσα, τη θεματολογία. Ταυτόχρονα με την εξέταση των κειμένων των σημαντικότερων επιστολογράφων της περιόδου ανάμεσα στον δέκατο έβδομο και δέκατο ένατο αιώνα παρουσιάζονται θέματα που αφορούν ιστορικά γεγονότα της περιόδου, καθώς και άλλα που σχετίζονταν με εκκλησιαστικά ζητήματα αλλά και με θέματα εκπαίδευσης.