Back to Bable in the Time of Modern Greek. Language Varieties in the Novel Αντιποιησισ Αρχησ

Abstract

The focus of this study is the literary use of language in the novel Antipoivhsi" Archv", which was written by Alexandros Kotzias (1926–92) and first published in 1979 (Kotzias 1992b). It will center on a linguistic description of its language varieties and an exami - nation of its various linguistic styles. The aim is to argue that this range of varieties and styles represents the author’s deliberate rejection of a linguistic straitjacket and that this, in turn, reflects a time of liberation of the language at an official level in Greece. This rich linguistic repertoire generates, as we shall see, constant linguistic interaction among the speaking characters and simultaneously provides persuasive evidence that narrative fiction does not need to be limited linguistically.