Stavrini Ioannidou
Email stavrini.ioannidou@kcl.ac.uk
Thesis title
The Greek Autofiction 1960s-1990s
Research
My thesis examines the development of autobiographical fiction in Greece during the period 1962-1994 through the study of selected works by Kostas Tachtsis, Melpo Axioti, Vasilis Vasilikos, Vasilis Alexakis, Yiannis Kiourtsakis and Michel Fais. The aim of the thesis is to suggest an alternative reading of fictional texts that literary critics have identified as ‘autobiographical’, in the light of the postmodern theory of autofiction. The term ‘autofiction’ was coined in 1977 by the French essayist and novelist, Serge Doubrovsky, in order to designate texts that blur the lines separating the autobiography and the novel, two genres that are traditionally considered mutually exclusive.
My main objective is to argue for the existence of a Greek version of autofiction by analysing the fictionalisation strategies employed by writers belonging to different generations. By introducing a theoretical framework that was originally applied in more central literatures, I seek to highlight the pioneering nature of a peripheral literature and situate the Greek case within the universal domain of postmodern autobiographical fiction.
Research interests
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The Greek autobiographical novel and its relation with the genre of autobiography
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Postmodern fictional genres (autofiction, biofiction and metafiction)
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The Greek Künstlerroman
Biography
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2003-2007, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, BA in Greek Philology(Ptychion) with specialisation in Medieval and Modern Greek Studies (Award: Excellent 8.69/10)
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2007-2008, King’s, MA in Modern Greek Studies (Award: Pass with Merit) Dissertation title: “Blurring the boundaries – Nikos Gavriel Pentzikis’ The Novel of Mrs Ersi as metafiction”
Supervisors