Tasos Livaditis

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Tasos

Tasos Leivaditis (Greek: Τάσος Λειβαδίτης; 20 April 1922 – 30 October 1988) was a Greek poet, short story writer and literary critic. He belonged to the postwar generation that was deeply marked by the struggles and failures of the communist movement. His early and politically committed poetry travelled through the ‘fire and sword’ of history, transforming in the end into powerful and paradoxical prose-poems, and displaying an erotically charged form of ‘neo-romanticism’ mixed with ‘melancholic minimalism’ where “genuine humility offers obeisance to the magic of language.”

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Early life Leivaditis was born in Athens, Greece, on 20 April 1922. As this happened to be the eve of Easter Saturday, he was given the name of 'Tasos' short for 'Anastasios' (Αναστάσιος), derived from the Greek word for 'resurrection' (ανάσταση). He grew up in Metaxourgeio, a working-class neighborhood at the time, located northwest of the historical centre of Athens. His father, Lysandros, moved from Kontovazaina (a village in mountainous Arcadia, in the Peloponnese) to Athens, where he set up a prosperous textiles store. Tasos had four older siblings: a sister (Chrysaphenia), two brothers (the eldest Alexandros, and Dimitris), and a half-brother (Konstantinos) from his mother's previous marriage. The elder brother Alexandros or Alekos (1914–1980) was to become a successful actor in theatre and film, while his brother Dimitris worked as a musician for the Greek National Opera. (Contrary to popular opinion, the acclaimed television actor, Thanos Leivaditis (1934–2005), was not related to Tasos Leivaditis.) Tasos' childhood has been described by those who grew up with him as happy and carefree, and according to his own testimony he began writing poetry at 12 or 13 years of age, even earning the nicknames 'Byron' and 'Leopardi' at school. It was during…Citește mai mult

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Resistance during the Occupation Leivaditis enrolled in the Law School of the University of Athens in 1940, and soon after (in October of that year) Greece entered World War II. By April the following year German troops had overrun Athens. Leivaditis eventually abandoned his studies and joined the leftist resistance movement known as EAM (Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο, National Liberation Front), becoming a member of the youth wing of the movement, known as EPON (Ενιαία Πανελλαδική Οργάνωση Νέων, United Panhellenic Organization of Youth), soon after its formation in February 1943.

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Exile and imprisonment The internal conflict between EAM and right-wing forces that had begun during the Occupation erupted again soon after the Germans withdrew from Greece. Fierce fighting broke out in Athens, in December 1944 (which has therefore become known as the Dekemvriana), and for his part in the battle Leivaditis was arrested and imprisoned; he was released after the Varkiza Agreement of February 12, 1945. The following year, 1946, Leivaditis married Maria Stoupas, and they were to have one daughter, Vasiliki (or Vaso). Also in 1946, Leivaditis made his literary debut, publishing the poem “Το τραγούδι του Χατζηδημήτρη (απόσπασμα)” (‘The Song of Hadjidimitri (excerpt)’) in the November issue of the periodical Elefthera Grammata; and in the December issue of the same periodical he published the Dekemvriana-inspired poem “Απ’ το Δεκέμβρη” (‘From December’). In 1947, Leivaditis, along with a group of other leftist youths (including Alexandros Argyriou, Titos Patrikios, and Mihalis Katsaros), helped put together the short-lived literary journal, Θεμέλιο (themelio, foundation). In the second, and last, issue of the journal, published in September 1947, Leivaditis contributed a translation of Loys Masson’s “Épitaphe” (rendered as “Επιτάφιος”, Funeral Hymn). In the same year, Leivaditis also published the poem “Η κυρά της…Citește mai mult

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Triptych and trial In 1954 Leivaditis began working for the weekly newspaper, Η Αυγή (‘The Dawn’), which had begun circulation in 1952 as the mouthpiece of the broadly leftist political party, Ενιαία Δημοκρατική Αριστερά (ΕΔΑ), the United Democratic Left (EDA). Leivaditis was to work as the newspaper’s literary critic, reviewing newly published poetry books, a role he occupied for the remainder of his life (except for the period of the 1967-74 junta, when the paper was shut down). While working at the newspaper, Leivaditis was also involved in setting up the literary journal, Επιθεώρηση Τέχνης (‘Cultural Review’), which has been described as “possibly the most significant leftist literary periodical of the time,” and which was issued monthly from January 1955, with each issue averaging around 100 pages. Although initially closely involved with the journal, Leivaditis was to drift away from the editorial committee from early 1957, though he continued to contribute to the journal until it was closed down in 1967 when the junta came to power. After returning from enforced exile Leivaditis published his first poetry books in fairly quick succession: Μάχη στην άκρη της νύχτας (‘Battle at the Edge of the Night’, 1952), Αυτό το αστέρι είναι για…Citește mai mult

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The 'poetry of defeat' After a promising start with his first poetry volumes, Leivaditis was to make an important turn which would continue and deepen for the remainder of his career. His turning-point came, as it did for many leftist intellectuals of the time, in 1956, a year in which faith in the communist cause was severely tested by Khrushchev’s secret denunciation of Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and by the anti-Soviet uprisings in Poland and Hungary and their brutal suppression. These events profoundly affected Leivaditis, causing him to rethink his allegiance to communism. With the Left in Greece defeated in the civil war, and with hopes in Soviet communism dashed, Leivaditis’ poetry begins to move in a different direction, one that is increasingly melancholic, resigned, solitary and skeptical. Many other poets of Leivaditis’ generation were also making a similar turn, giving rise to the ‘poetry of defeat’ movement. The term itself, ‘poetry of defeat’, was coined by the poet and critic Byron Leondaris (1932–2014) in his influential 1963 article, “Poetry of Defeat”, published in Epitheorisi Technis. Leondaris perceived a new political climate arising in the late 50s and early 60s, whose…Citește mai mult

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Leivaditis' middle period: 1957–1967 Leivaditis’ middle-period poetry works consist of: Συμφωνία αρ. 1 (‘Symphony #1’, 1957; winner of the 1958 Athens Municipality Poetry Prize), Οι γυναίκες με τ’ αλογίσια μάτια (‘The Horse-Eyed Women’, 1958), Καντάτα για δυο δισεκατομύρια φωνές (‘Cantata for Three Billion Voices’, 1960), 25η ραψωδία της Οδύσσειας (‘25th Rhapsody of the Odyssey’, 1963), Ποιήματα: 1958–1964 (‘Poems: 1958–1964’, 1965), and Οι τελευταίοι (‘The Last Ones’, 1966). Leivaditis’ preceding work (consisting of the 1952–53 triptych, and the 1956 volume Ο άνθρωπος με το ταμπούρλο, ‘The Man with the Drum’) has been characterized as a ‘poetry of the battlefield’, a politically committed poetry reflecting the struggles of the resistance during World War II and of the Left during the civil war. From 1957, however, his work begins to turn away from the previous hopeful and heroic spirit to one burdened by an increasing sense of crisis and disillusionment: this change is signalled in the opening section of Symphony #1, with its recurring image of "the defeated soldiers, the defeated soldiers / have the silence of infinitude" (with the word 'silence' substituted later by 'sorrow' and 'hunger'). This middle period in Leivaditis’ career has been described by Dimitris Aggelis as “a period…Citește mai mult

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Dictatorship: 1967–1974 After the military coup of April 21, 1967, the newspaper Leivaditis worked for as a literary critic, The Dawn, was shut down and Leivaditis found himself out of work. In early 1969, he was invited to write for the popular weekly magazine, Fantazio (Φαντάζιο), and under the pseudonym ‘A. Rokos’ (Α. Pόκος) he contributed a series of articles on Modern Greek writers as well as adaptations of works by English, French and Russian authors. During the early years of the dictatorship, when a strict regime of censorship was in place, Leivaditis followed the practice of many other writers in refusing to publish any of their own work and thus avoiding the degrading requirement of having to seek the approval of the censor’s office. This ‘silent boycott’ was broken once preventive censorship was lifted on November 15, 1969, and after a six-year silence Leivaditis began publishing his own poetry again, beginning with Νυχτερινός Επισκέπτης (‘Night Visitor’) in 1972.

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Leivaditis' later work The final, and most productive, phase of Leivaditis’ career featured the following works of poetry: Νυχτερινός επισκέπτης (‘Night Visitor’, 1972), Σκοτεινή πράξη (‘Dark Deed’, 1974), Οι τρεις (‘The Three’, 1975), Ο διάβολος με το κηροπήγιο (‘The Devil with the Candlestick’, 1975), Βιολί για μονόχειρα (‘Violin for One-Armed Player’, 1976), Ανακάλυψη (‘Discovery’, 1977), Εγχειρίδιο ευθανασίας (‘Euthanasia Manual’, 1979), Ο τυφλός με τον λύχνο (‘The Blind Man with the Lamp’, 1983), Βιολέτες για μια εποχή (‘Violets for a Season’, 1985), and Μικρό βιβλίο για μεγάλα όνειρα (‘A Small Book for Big Dreams’, 1987). Violin for One-Armed Player was runner-up in the National Poetry Prize for 1976, while Euthanasia Manual won the prize in 1979. Night Visitor (1972) marks another turning-point in Leivaditis’ oeuvre, for with this work he makes a definitive break from his youthful idealism and opens up a new path that is not only more solitary and sorrowful, but also more philosophical, if not metaphysical and mystical than what is found in earlier writings. In a manner reminiscent of existentialist literature, questions about the meaning and value of life now loom large, but they go unanswered in a world depicted as unresponsive or even hostile to human…Citește mai mult

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Prose fiction, film and music Apart from poetry, Leivaditis also contributed to other artistic genres, including prose fiction, film and music. In 1966, Leivaditis’ collection of short stories, The Pendulum (Το εκκρεμές) was published. Alexandros Argyriou describes these stories as ‘kafkaesque’ and ‘dream-like’, but where the dreams include nightmares. In the story, “The Suspect Arm,” for example, we are presented with a case of Darwinian evolution in reverse, where a man wakes up to find himself transformed into an ape. Although Leivaditis’ fiction has been overshadowed by his poetry, the critic Alexis Ziras ascribes great significance to the stories, arguing that they prefigure the philosophical crisis and literary style that were to become prominent in Leivaditis’ later poems. Leivaditis also wrote the screenplay for two films, together with longtime friend, playwright and novelist, Kostas Kotzias (1921-79). The first of these was for the now-classic film, Συνοικία το Όνειρο (‘Neighborhood of Dreams’, 1961, directed by Alekos Alexandrakis), which caused an uproar at the time for its realistic portrayal of the slums of Athens. The other screenplay was for the film, Θρίαμβος (‘Triumph’, 1962, directed by Alekos Alexandrakis and Aristeidis Karydis-Fuchs). Finally, Leivaditis wrote lyrics to many popular songs, sometimes for film,…Citește mai mult

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Translations of Leivaditis' works Although Leivaditis is well known and much loved in Greece, he remains relatively unknown to non-Greek-speaking audiences. But this is beginning to change as more of his work is now being translated into English and other languages.

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English translations Leivaditis was first translated into English by the Greek-American poet and translator, Nikos Spanias (Νίκος Σπάνιας, 1924-1990), in his Resistance, Exile and Love: An Anthology of Post-War Greek Poetry, published in 1977. Spanias includes six poems by Leivaditis, whom he characterizes as “one of the best poets of his generation,” and states that his poems “have a piercing directness and a breathtaking simplicity.” Leivaditis has also been translated by Kimon Friar (1911–1993, well known as the translator of Kazantzakis’ Odyssey), firstly in the November 1981 issue of the Chicago-based magazine Poetry (vol. 139, three poems on pp.92-93); and then, the following year, in an issue of kayak, which has been described as, “from 1964 to 1984, arguably the preeminent little poetry magazine in the United States.” For this issue, Friar contributed a one-page introduction to Leivaditis, followed by eleven translated poems (kayak, vol. 58, 1982, pp.3-7). Leivaditis’ poems have also appeared in various English-language anthologies of Greek poetry, including: Modern Greek Poetry: An Anthology (published in 2003), which includes Nanos Valaoritis’ translation of 17 poems from Euthanasia Manual; and A Century of Greek Poetry:1900-2000 (published in 2004), which includes six poems translated by David Connolly. Connolly has also…Citește mai mult

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Other translations Leivaditis’ work has been translated into several languages other than English, including: Russian: Kantata dlya tryokh milliardov golosovi (Moscow: Progress, 1968). Albanian: Fryn ne unhekry, qet e botes, trans. Aleks Caci (Tirana: Naim Frasheri Publishing, 1978). Hungarian: Kantata hárommiliárd hangra, trans. Kálman Szabó and Arpád Papp (Budapest: Európa, 1980). French: Petit livre pour grands reves, trans. Aki Roukas and Mimy Kinet (Brussels: Centre Helleniques, 1995); L’aveugle et sa chandelle: choix de poèmes, trans. Patricia Lenoir (Prades-le-Lez: Éditions Monemvassia, 2017). Italian: 25a rapsodia dell’odissea, trans. Salvatore Giammancheri (Athens, 2002). Turkish: Bir Yel Esiyor Dünya Kavşaklarinda, trans. Panayot Abaci (Istanbul: Evrensel Basim Yayin, 2006). Serbian: Violina za jednorukog, trans. Gaga Rosic (Zrenjanin: Agora, 2009). Translations of select poems have also appeared in various non-English anthologies of Greek literature, including ones published in Chinese, Italian, Polish, Dutch, German, Russian, and Swedish.

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Modern Greek literature Entry on Tasos Leivaditis in Greek version of Wikipedia