Marina Theodosiu-Hall's Presentation on Kiki Dimoula at the Hellenic Center, Dec. 14, 2019
Introduction and Marina Hall's Bio by Patty Apostolides, Director of the Hellenic Writers' Group
Marina Theodosiu-Hall was born in Athens Greece.
She graduated from the Franco-Hellenic Ursuline academy in Neo Psychico Athens, then left for the United States having obtained a full scholarship to study abroad.
This was followed with studies in French literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne Paris France, with Cornelius Castoriadis as mentor and lecturer.
There was a period of collaboration with Kimon Friar in translating works of Yiannis Ritsos and Odysseas Elytis, as well as with professor Thanasis Maskaleris,
director of the newly established Kazantzakis chair at San Francisco State University.
She did many years of research and text evaluation regarding the Pre-Socratic thinkers, with special focus on Heraclitus and the sense of time. She participated in a study paralleling the past in juxtaposition to the present. Part of this study is contained in the paper: "The Diachronic Singularity of the Greek Character” (Athens, International Congress of Philosophy, 2013).
She is the founder and member of the philosophical forum ”Anti-thesis,” in Maryland since 1993.
Her free time is devoted to writing poems, which have been occasionally presented and recited at the Federal Poets Society in the Washington area, and different venues in Greece.
Marina Theodosiu Hall speaking about the Greek Poet Kiki Dimoula
Marina Theodosiu Hall answering questions
Audience at the presentation
The Presentation by Marina Hall:
The Aesthetic and Symbolic Aspects in the poetry of Kiki Dimoula
Dear friends thank you for being here despite your busy holiday schedule these days. I especially want to thank Patty Apostolides for inviting me to give this presentation about the great Greek poet Kiki Dimoula, a subject very dear to my heart. Although the task to speak about her is enormous, I will just skim the surface today.
I usually give this presentation in Greek but since I was kindly asked to give it in English due to the majority in the audience being English speakers, I translated it as best as I could. I want to ask how many of you are familiar with K. Dimoula’s poetry? I must tell you that whenever I tell my friend Youlika Masry, a poet and translator that I will speak about Dimoula, she tells me: proceed at your own risk.
Let me then start with a small introduction, a general overview I should say.
We all have wondered at times, why poetry? Why read it, why embrace it, and why elevate some poets higher than others? A probable answer could be that: 1. It rescues the past, 2. It expands the present forward and back, 3. It attempts to say what cannot always be said, and last but not least, it is the bulwark of memory. It cannot save you, but it can console you at times. And for those aware of its diminishment in our time, it remains, endures, hangs on, and fills the void. It has most certainly also been part of philosophy diachronically. I should mention that Socrates wrote poetry before he drank the hemlock(in Phaedon).
As most of you know, poetry has always been present in Greece through the ages. Starting with Homer in ancient times, we have Αρχίλοχος, Τυρταίος, Ξενοφάνης, Στησίχορος, Πίνδαρος and the supreme Σαπφώ. Continuing to the Hellenistic period, Aσκληπιάδης, Καλλίμαχος, the Byzantine period and so on and so forth. Nowhere in the world has there been such an abundance and magnitude of poetic talent as in Greece. I can go on and on, with the giants: Palamas, Solomos, Anagnostakis, Elytis, Seferis, Cavafis. Two of those are Nobel Prize recipients. Even the most revered German poet Hoderlin praises the Hellenic poetic spirit in his own work.
So why so many? Is it a coincidence? The answer could be, because the Greek persona is never too far from his or her sentiments. And those sentiments which are composed by «Πόνος και Πάθος» equal = Ποίηση. Pain and Passion is equal to = poetry. And because as I have mentioned in my philosophy lecture «Η Διαχρονική Μοναδικότητα του Ελληνα» (Philosophy symposium, Athens 2013), the Greek persona has an innate tendency for disobedience (έμφυτη τάση προςανυπακοή), and that characteristic can be the source of boundless creativity(εστίαδημιουργικότητας) when channeled correctly.
Which brings us to Kiki Dimoula (Kiki,diminutive of Vasiliki), arguably Greece’s best poet in the last decade and before. I'm not going into great detail about her bio (you can find that on Google), but I can just say that she was born in Athens, lives in the Kypseli precinct (my old stomping grounds) and believe it or not, used to work at the National Bank of Greece. She eventually stopped working to devote herself to raising her children, while in the meantime establishing her poetic talent. She was deeply influenced by her husband Athos(himself a poet) and Costas Karyotakis.
She is a full member of the Academy of Athens, a recipient of the European prize of Literature as well as numerous other prizes for lifetime achievements, and is the first living poet whose work is published by the famous French Publishing House, Gallimard. A lot of her work has been translated into English and many other languages as well. Frankly, I admire and pity the translator who tackles the challenge. Not an easy task for sure.
If I had to characterize the style of her verses, which are not rhymed, I would say that it belongs to the surrealist genre even though one cannot really place her in a specific category, or an established school. She would rebel belonging to anything anyway.
Some people write poetry to escape the burdens of life, some people read for the same reason. Kiki Dimoula defines what that burden is.
Regarding the subject of her poems, it deals mainly with the concept of loss, distance, longing, memory, and the futility of our everyday existence. The absence of something undefined, and a deep sense of regret. I will enumerate some in Greek: Υπαρξιακή αγωνία, απουσία, απώλεια χρόνου, φθορά και μοναξιά. And here one can see the paradoxical nature of her verses in that it is exactly that feeling of absence which fills the void and enlivens her poems. The simplest ideas, the barest of thoughts can convey the richest and most vividly complex descriptions. She transforms the everyday banality to something important (let me read to you an example). The aesthetic and symbolic aspects come into full view here. She philosophizes aphoristically and sometimes irreverently. Thoughts full of metaphors, symbols, imagery. She has it all.
Her aim is not to appease but to unsettle, infuriate and sometimes scandalize (another poem). Dimoula uses the verse as a weapon which slashes like a knife through the alphabet. But just as easily she can pacify, but always with a touch of irony. Her pessimism, full of satirical overtones, contains a symbolism which captivates the lucky reader who can weather the storm. I remember a friend telling me that during a visit with her, Dimoula expressed her disappointment when she was told that she was understood by most.
If I chose to make some comparisons of her poetry with some corresponding representatives in art theatre and music, I would have her paired with Dali or Magritte in painting, Samuel Beckett and Ionesco for theatre and prose, and as for music, a mother’s simple lullaby would do nicely…
As spiritual sisters I have to go with the Russian poets Ana Ahmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva and our Emily Dickinson. Dickinson being much more cryptic in her loneliness.
So these are some thoughts and personal views which I wanted to share with you about Kiki Dimoula. I will continue to pursue the task of deciphering her verses by plunging my mind and heart into her special world, hoping her poems will continue to entice us and future generations for a long time.
Everything has been changing around us but we, as human beings are still the same, with the same problems, the same anxieties as our past generations, and that is why the poetry of Kiki Dimoula is so contemporary and yet, eternal.
I will close with what the poet and author Joseph Brodsky said: “The poet does not seek recognition, only understanding”.
Thank you for listening.
Marina Thedosiu-Hall
December 2019
Some favorites and two complete poems.
Σπάνιο Δώρο(Εφηβεία της Λήθης
Σε ετοιμότητα(Ανω Τελεία)
Ευλόγισον την παρουσία σου(Τα Εύρετρα)
Πρόσεχε(Μεταφερθήκαμε παραπλεύρως)
Πληθυντικός αριθμός(το λίγο του κόσμου)
1 Ασυμβίβαστα
Ολα τα ποιήματα μου για την ανοιξη
ατελείωτα μένουν
Φταίει που πάντα βιάζεται η άνοιξη
φταίει που πάντα αργεί η διάθεση μου.
Γιαυτό αναγκάζομαι
κάθε σχεδόν ποιήμα μου για την άνοιξη
με μια εποχή φθινοπώρου
ν’αποτελειώνω
Η Γλυκύτατη αβεβαιότης
Τρισάγια κάθε τόσο
για να δοθεί η υπηκοότητα του νεκρού
στον κεκοιμημένον δούλον σου.
Υψιστε, τι εννοείς
αλλο νεκρός και αλλο δούλος.
Κι απο πότε επιτρέπεται
να κοιμούνται ετσι βαθιά
ατιμώρητοι οι δούλοι.
Τον κεκοιμημένο δούλο σου.
Θεέ μου, αν απελευθερώνει ο θάνατος
οπως μας το υπόσχεται παρήγορη
η γλυκύτατη αβεβαιότης, εσυ
γιατι τον θές ντε και καλά δουλέμπορο
Τον κεκοιμημένον.
Περι ύπνου πρόκειται Κύριε
Μα του κολλάει ύπνος του νεκρού
ετσι εύκολα νυστάζει η απώλεια της ζωής
Εδω εμείς, δούλοι του απάνω κόσμου ακόμα
κι ομως ποιός κλείνει μάτι
αν δεν τον νανουρίσει οπως ξέρει
μόνο η γιαγια του η βεβαιότης
με τη γλυκιά της ρόδινη αφύπνιση.
Information about Kiki Dimoula and her poems:
