In one more, just can’t keep ’em from coming, comment on “Magnificent Turks and the Origins of this Blog,” Philopomeon writes:
“Oh wow, and don’t get me started on the “you don’t know OUR history” stuff from them. For them basically the years 600 AD to 1821 are a blank spot with some vagueness about a “Greek Empire” and the fall of Constantinople to the Turks”
And the massive gap doesn’t even seem to register with them or concern them. Too much sloppiness to fit into the orderly narrative boxes they like.
It’s actually quite astonishing: where the narrative line doesn’t follow Glorious Greeks to Evil Turks to meh Independence, they’re as historically ignorant as many Americans.
Interior of Sultan Ahmet mosque. (click)
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Interior of Sultan Ahmet mosque. (click)
Once, sitting on the beach in Elafonisos, I had a discussion with a college student about the identity of Byzantium. I mentioned that the Byzantines called themselves Romans and he laughed..” Is that what they teach you in USA… Stupid amerikanaki”.
It was pure irony. The saddest part is realizing that the context of Ρομιοσινι is totally lost on them- all that heritage traded in for a largely constructed modern one. Ah, Έτσι είναι η ζωή….
I personally think Americans aren’t any duller than most others. Their world is both much bigger and much smaller than others’ worlds. But in some ways they are somewhat less prone to argue their points and more easily admit their ignorance. We Balkanians invented Sophism though and it shows. Not least of all when you visit the περίπτερο ” literature” section.