Progetto PSR (2025) Linea 8-Sottomisura B- Dott.ssa Christina BANALOPOULOU (Tutor: Prof. Rustem Ertug Altinay) - Missione a Istanbul

Greek Dreams on (Post-)Ottoman Stages: Rum Women Playwrights in Early Republican Turkey Project Description As Turkey emerged as a nation-state in 1923, theatre became a crucial site for Rum (ethnically Greek) minoritarian women to navigate the complex gendered landscape of ethnicity, competing nationalisms, and imperial aspirations. Despite their potential for studying the blurred boundaries between imperial and national frameworks in the eastern Mediterranean, these works remain absent from women’s history. This project investigates the overlooked Rum playwrights Kornilia Tavaniwtou and Athina Kardovilli, who strategically utilized theatre to express their experiences as ethnic minority women while both embracing and subverting imperial imaginaries. Their transnational work—writing in Greek and maintaining intellectual connections with Hellenic circles across borders while living in Turkey—positioned their artistic production between Ottoman theatrical traditions and European modernist forms. Their theatrical negotiations of competing nationalisms and irredentist ambitions unpack the historical traces of today’s gendered nationalist-imperial projects. I anticipate needing 3000 euros to complete this research. The Fellowship will fund six more weeks of essential research in Istanbul at archives I have not yet visited but became available to me, including the Fragopoulos archive, Sismanogleio library, Zografeion, Zapyon, Fener Rum schools, Kurtuluş, Beyoğlu, ERTHO community centers, and the Atatürk Library. My research will focus on three key sources: •Week 1-2: Manuscripts of Tavaniwtou's Οι Εντιμώτατοι and Kresteniti/Kardovilli's Το Όνειρο του Τσολιά (Sismanogleio Library) oOutput: Transcriptions •Week 3: Personal & Community Archives: Tavaniwtou's correspondence oOutput: Catalog •Week 4-5: Press Reception Reviews (Patriarchate/ Atatürk Libraries) Output: Reception Analysis •Week 6: Synthesis Output: Report. & Manuscript - Journal of Women's History