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Name: Niftanidou Position: Assistant Professor
Surname: Theocharoula Subject: Modern Greek Literature
Email: niftanid@upatras.gr Phone: 2610 969741

Theocharoula Niftanidou is Assistant Professor in Modern Greek Literature in the Department of Educational Sciences and Social Work (former Department of Primary Education) at the University of Patras. She studied Modern Greek Literature at the University of Thessaloniki (1991), Theory of Literature and Comparative Literature at the University of Paris III – Sorbonne Nouvelle (D.E.A., 1992 / Doctorate, 2000). While preparing her doctoral thesis, she has taught at the Oriental Languages School of Paris and the Institute of Modern Greek Studies at the University of Lyon ; after her doctoral studies she has taught at the Universities of Patras and Cyprus, as well as at the Hellenic Open University. She is the author of the books Georges Perec et Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis: Une poétique du minimal («L’Harmattan», Paris 2004), On dolor: Elisabeth Moutzan-Martinengou, Autobiography & Dido Sotiriou, The Visitors (in Greek ; University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 2023), and the editor of the volume The Teaching of Literature: Historical and Contemporary Perspective (in Greek ; «Peri Technon», Patras 2008). Her research interests focus on the theory and teaching of literature, children’s and young adult fiction, comparative literature. Reader for the journals: Mentor, Comparison, Neograeca Bohemica. Languages: English, French, Italian.

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Employment history:
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Postgraduate:

COURSE THAT HAS BEEN TAUGHT IN THE FRAME OF THE POSTGRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION

Type of course: Theoretical

Year of study: 2 – Term: 3

Academic years: 2009-2010 and 2012-2013

Aims of the course:
To familiarise postgraduate students with the conceptual and methodological tools of contemporary Comparative Literature in its interrelationship with Intercultural Education.

Prerequisite knowledge: Certain basic concepts of literary studies.

Course content:
Definition of the field and its primary conceptual (influence / intertextuality, identity / alterity) and methodological (literary history and theory) areas, presentation of the major trends in Comparative Literature throughout the 20th century and brief outline of the development of the field in Greece. Examination of the interrelationship between Comparative Literature and cultural studies as well as with the field of intercultural education through the consideration of specific subjects. Particular attention has been given here to cultural imagology, i.e. the systematic investigation of the ways in which the other is represented in the literary work. The examples analysed have been drawn from the three anthologies of literary texts used in Greek elementary school.

Teaching and learning methods: Seminars
Assessment: Assignement
Undergraduate:

A. COURSES TAUGHT IN THE FRAME OF THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT

I. MODERN GREEK LITERATURE Ι

Course type: Theoretical

Year of study: 2 – Semester: 3

Course objectives: To teach students the history of modern Greek literature and familiarise them with the conceptual and methodological principles of modern Greek literary studies.

Course content:
Concise introduction to modern Greek literary studies: defining the field, terminological and methodological issues. Presentation of the history of modern Greek literature: (i) defining the contexts of time and space and a synoptic presentation of the main stages of modern Greek literary production from its beginnings until the 18th century; (ii) analytical, organised in chronological units, investigation of the main chapters of modern Greek literature in the 19th and 20th centuries since the Heptanesian School to the Postwar period, based on an indicative analysis of texts and with special emphasis on the relation of modern Greek literary tradition to its European equivalent.

Teaching methods: Series of lectures
Course evaluation: Written examination

The course is also taught in the Department of Theatre Studies and has been taught in the Department of Philosophy (2013-2021).

II. MODERN GREEK LITERATURE II

Course type: Theoretical

Year of study: 3 – Semester: 6

Course objectives: To familiarise students with issues of interpreting and teaching works of modern Greek literature.

Prerequisites: History of modern Greek literature and key concepts in modern Greek literary studies.

Course content:
Issues of interpretation and teaching modern Greek literary works: The objective of this course is to propose a set of principles for the systematic study and teaching of modern Greek literary texts. Within this context: (a) the main aspects of the philological study are investigated; (b) a method of interpreting and teaching is proposed and a specially selected body of poetry and prose works analysed.

Teaching methods: Series of lectures
Course evaluation: Written examination with optional assignment.

The course has also been taught in the Department of Philosophy (2006-2020).

III. CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE

Course type: Theoretical

Year of study: 4 – Semester: 7

Directions: Primary Education and Social Work

Course objectives: To familiarise students with issues of the interpretation and teaching of children’s and young adult literature.

Prerequisites: History of modern Greek literature and key concepts in modern Greek literary studies.

Course content:
The objective of this course is to propose a set of concepts and methods for the systematic study and teaching of children’s and young adult literature. Within this context: (a) a definition of children’s and young adult fiction as a literary genre and object of study is proposed; (b) a historical outline of modern Greek and European children’s literature is presented and a specially selected body of prose works analysed ; finally (c) certain special issues, such as the possibility of implementing contemporary literary theory in the study of children’s fiction, approaching this fiction through the prism of evolutionary psychology and using the concept of cross-curricular teaching, are investigated.

Teaching methods: Series of lectures
Course evaluation: Written examination with optional assignment.

IV. INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY THEORY

Course type: Theoretical

Year of study: 4 – Semester: 8

Course objectives: To familiarise students with the historical and conceptual aspects of contemporary literary theory.

Prerequisites: Key concepts in modern literary studies.

Course content:
Introductory investigation of the main chapters of literary theory: defining the field and its key concepts, presentation of the main Schools and trends in the 19th and 20th century theoretical thought, discussion of Aristotle’s Poetics and of modern Greek literary theory. Approach to certain special issues, such as: (a) The interaction of contemporary theory with disciplines such as linguistics, philosophy, psychoanalysis (etc.) ; (b) the relationship of literary theory with literary criticism and comparative literature ; (c) the possibility of implementing its tools in teaching practice.

Teaching methods: Series of lectures
Course evaluation: Written examination with optional assignment

The course is also taught in the Department of Theatre Studies and has been taught in the Department of Philosophy (2006-2020).



B. COURSE THAT HAS BEEN TAUGHT IN THE FRAME OF THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY


IOANNIS SYKOUTRIS AS LITERARY THEORIST


Type of course: Theoretical


Year of study: 4 – Term: 7


Academic year: 2007-2008


Teaching methods: Series of lectures


Course evaluation: Written examination with optional assignment




C. COURSE THAT HAS BEEN TAUGHT IN THE FRAME OF THE STUDIES PROGRAM OF THE E. P. PAPANOUTSOS TEACHERS COLLEGE


ISSUES OF MODERN GREEK LITERATURE


Academic years: 2004-2006 and 2011-2012

(fall semester)































SELECTED PUBLICATIONS 


Α.


(2004). Georges Perec et Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis: Une poétique du minimal. Paris: Éditions «L’Harmattan». Georges Perec et Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis: Une poétique du minimal.pdf


Abstract: The monograph constitutes a comparative study of the prose work of the Greek writer N. G. Pentzikis (1908-1993) and that of the French writer Georges Perec (1936-1983), which aims at illuminating aspects of their poetics based on principles of contemporary literary theory.


(2023). On dolor: Elisabeth Moutzan-Martinengou, Autobiography & Dido Sotiriou, The Visitors. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press.


(Ed.). (2008). The Teaching of Literature. Historical and Contemporary Perspective. Patras: «Peri Technon». Nemertes (University of Patras institutional repository) http://hdl.handle.net/10889/11847 (p. 11-16).


Β.


(1999). What is Comparative Poetics? Cahiers Balkaniques, 26: Autour de la langue grecque. Actes du XVe Colloque des Néohellénistes des Universités francophones. Paris: Publications Langues O’, p. 251-255.


(2001). Ways of constructing Literary Similarity. In E. Politou-Marmarinou / S. Denissi (eds.). Identity and Alterity in Literature, 18th-20th c. Proceedings of the Second International Conference of the Greek General and Comparative Literature Association. Athens: Domos, p. 83-89.


(2006). (In collaboration with Ourania Polykandrioti). Teaching Modern Greek Literature and Literary Theory in Open and Distance Learning: The Exemple of Autobiographical Writing. In openlit.teimes.gr/conf-Ierapetra.htm (Proceedings of the International Conference Literary Studies in Open and Distance Learning).


(2007). (In collaboration with K. Karatassou). Aspects and Functions of the Allegory in the Anthologies of Modern Greek Literature (Primary 1-4). In G. D. Kapsalis / Α. Ν. Katsikis (eds.). Proceedings of the Conference Primary Education and the Provocations of our Age. Ioannina, p. 651-659.


(2007). Towards a Philosophical Foundation of Philology: The Case of Ioannis Sykoutris. In E. Close et alii (eds.). Greek Research in Australia. Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial International Conference of Greek Studies. Adelaide: Flinders University, p. 485-496.


(2008). Ioannis Sykoutris en tant que théoricien de la littérature. Revue des Études Néohelléniques, 4, p. 45-63. (www.greek-language.gr/greekLang/files/document/Sykoutris Fr.pdf)


(2008). Ioannis Sykoutris’ Views regarding the Teaching of Literature. In Ch. Μ. Niftanidou (ed.). The Teaching of Literature. Historical and Contemporary Perspective. Patras: «Peri Technon», p. 57-66.


(2009). Evi Voyiatzaki. The Body in the Text. James Joyce’s Ulysses and the Modern Greek Novel. Lanham MD: Lexington Books, 2002. xv+251 p. Recherche littéraire / Literary Research, 49-50, p. 103-106.


(2010). The Notion of Form in the Work of Ioannis Sykoutris. In Modernity in the 19th and 20th c. Modern Greek Literature and Criticism. Thessaloniki, p. 449-465.  Nemertes (University of Patras institutional repository) http://hdl.handle.net/10889/8786


(2010). Ioannis Sykoutris and Literary Criticism. Philologos, 139, p. 127-141.


(2012). I. Sykoutris, «L’Introduction du Mémoire à la Faculté des Lettres de l’Université d’Athènes». In A. Th. Fotopoulos (ed.). Modern Greek Literature in the Inter-War Period. Historical and Philological Approach. Pyrgos Ilias: Anazitissi, p. 135-144. Nemertes (University of Patras institutional repository) http://hdl.handle.net/10889/11409


(2012). The Library of the Division of Modern Greek of The National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Paris): A Selective Bibliographical Catalogue. Center for the Greek Language (www.komvos.edu.gr).


(2013). The Theme of Psychosomatic Pathology in the Autobiography of Elisabeth Moutzan-Martinengou and the Novel of Dido Sotiriou The Visitors. Porphyras, 149, p. 281-296.


(2014). On Philological Knowledge: Aspects of the Interpretational Work in the frame of the Modern Greek Literature Courses at the Department of Primary Education, University of Patras. In What Knowledge is of most Worth? Historical – Comparative Approaches. Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference of the University of Patras Laboratory of Modern Greek & International Education’s Historical Archive (eriande.elemedu.e-millescreations.com).


(2015). La thématique de la pathologie psycho-somatique dans le roman de Dido Sotiriou Dans les flammes. Mnemosyne, vol. 20, p. 335-344.


(2017). Ioannis Sykoutris as F.D.E. Schleiermarcher’s Reader. Philologos, 169, p. 338-353.


(2018). Dido for Children and Young Adults: In the Flames and The Visitors. In K. D. Malafantis (ed.). Literature and Education. Proceedings of the 10th Panhellenic Conference of the Hellenic Educational Society. Athens: Diadrassi, p. 420-433.


(2020). Life and Discourse: Ch. I. Sykoutri, «Ioannis Sykoutris, 1901-1937». Philologos, 179, p. 223-233.


OTHER AUTHOR’S ACTIVITY


(2020-2022). With knowledge as horizon: University distance learning notes for the courses «Modern Greek Literature II» and «Introduction to Literary Theory». Patras: University of Patras Publications Division.


SELECTED PRESENTATIONS


«Ioannis Sykoutris as a Literary Theorist». Presentation in the Colloquium of the Medieval & Modern Greek Studies Division, Department of Philology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (May 2004).


«The Teaching of Literature. Historical and Contemporary Perspective». Introduction to the One-Day Symposium of the same title (Department of Primary Education, University of Patras, December 2005).


«Aspects de l’œuvre de Ioannis Sykoutris». Cycle des Conférences de l’Institut Néo-hellénique de la Sorbonne (Janvier 2006).


«La poétique de Kiki Dimoula». Cycle des Conférences de l’Institut Néo-hellénique de la Sorbonne (Avril 2007).


«N. G. Pentzikis and Georges Perec: A Poetics of the Minimal». National Book Center & Agra Publications One-Day Symposium (Athens, December 2008).


«The Notion of Form in the Work of Ioannis Sykoutris». Presentation in the Colloquium of the Department of Philosophy, University of Patras (June 2009).


«Ioannis Sykoutris’ Contibution to the Formation of Modern Greek Literary Studies Terminology». Conference «Modern Greek Language and Education» (Department of Primary Education, University of Patras, October 2011).


Participation in the Round Table «Cultivating the love for reading in the Departments of Primary Education» (Universities of Athens and Patras, Athens, March 2013).


«The Theme of Psychosomatic Pathology in the Autobiography of E. Moutzan-Martinengou and the Novel of D. Sotiriou The Visitors». Presentation in the Colloquium of the Medieval & Modern Greek Studies Division, Department of Philology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (April 2013).


«Children’s and Young Adult Literature from a Philological Point of View». One-Day Symposium «Children’s Literature» (Department of Primary Education, University of Crete, Rethymnon, January 2015).


Critical presentation of St. Tsouprou’s book Reading Trials (ed. Grigori, 2013). National Association of Greek Writers (Athens, January 2015).


«Aspects of Maria Mirasgezi’s work». One-Day Symposium in the memory of the Emeriti Professors Al. Kosmopoulos and M. Mirasgezi (Department of Primary Education, University of Patras, June 2015).


Discussant of the Associate Professor Aikaterini Kaleri in the Laboratory of Modern Greek & Comparative Literature Colloquium (Department of Philology, University of Patras) on the subject «Style categories and hermeneutics of the poetic discourse» (February 2016).


«Ioannis Sykoutris as F.D.E. Schleiermarcher’s Reader». Presentation in the Colloquium of the Modern Greek Literary Studies Division, Department of Philology, University of Athens (May 2016).


«Visages des femmes au 19ème siècle: Le cas d’Élisabeth Moutzan-Martinengou». Conférence dans le cadre du cours «Littérature grecque moderne et contemporaine» (Institut Néo-hellénique de la Sorbonne, Avril 2018).


«Cultural Center “Kostis Palamas” and its benefits for the students of the University of Patras». One-Day Symposium «Kostis Palamas in Education» (University of Patras & Cultural Center “Kostis Palamas”, October 2023).