Guests on the program were Yiannis Mavroeidakos, founder of the Desmos Bookstore and Publishing House in Paris, and Isabelle Tloupas, the publishing house’s principal translator. They discussed the latest double issue of the renowned bilingual magazine Desmos, dedicated to the theme of displacement through the migration of Peloponnesians to the United States.
Between 1880 and 1920, the departure of approximately 400,000 Greek migrants led to the abandonment of many villages and the depopulation of entire regions of the Peloponnese. The guests spoke about the historical documents, testimonies, literary texts, laments, and songs of migration featured in the issue, which illuminate the experience of uprooting, the hardships faced by immigrants in America, and the enduring nostalgia of Peloponnesian migrants for their homeland.
Particular reference was made to New Smyrna, a city in Florida established by Greek and other immigrant communities.
The bilingual magazine Desmos serves as an important archive of the Greek Diaspora. Over the years, it has published significant works by prominent intellectuals such as Kostas Axelos, Cornelius Castoriadis, and Vassilis Alexakis, while continuing to showcase both classical and contemporary Greek literature. It remains a vital cultural bridge between Greece and France.
Tags:
Greek Diaspora, Desmos magazine, Yiannis Mavroeidakos, Isabelle Tloupas, Paris, Peloponnese, Greek migration, immigration to America, uprooting, diaspora history, New Smyrna, Greek literature, bilingual publishing, Greece and France, Faraway Words.