Author Petros Markaris receives Goethe-Institut medal

19:12 29/8/2013 - Πηγή: Matrix24

The event was also attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Cornelia Pieper, and included awards handed out also to Iranian translator and author Mahmoud Hosseini Zad and Indian publisher Naveen Kishore.

Goethe-Institut President

Organisers said that Markaris was recognised for his role as an intermediary in Greek-German relations, and for “maintaining a clear, analytic eye on both countries, even at times of

crisis.”

At the presentation of the award to Markaris, Sueddeutsche Zeitung’s Athens and Instabul correspondent Christiane Schloetzer spoke about Greek-German relations, saying that many Germans have forgotten that while they went soul-searching in Greece, like Goethe did, they left catastrophes behind them, and she referred to World War Two destruction of the town of Kalavryta, Kommeno and Distomo.

“The fact that Greeks were among the first labourers to help Germany create its economic miracle in the 60s seems unbelievable, given the historic events. But many Greeks also wanted to forget; they didn’t have another choice, after all” and citing Markaris as saying that “Greeks understood the culture of poverty very well, but are missing the culture of affluence.”

Accepting the prize, Markaris spoke of his 65-year-old love and devotion to the German language and literature, thanks to his father who pressed him to learn German. He also expressed appreciation for Istanbul, his city of origin, as a meeting point of cultures which “awoke my interest in building bridges between cultures” and for Athens, which he has called home for the last 50 years, a place where his two languages, Greek and German, come together.

“I consider myself a liaison between Germany and Greece and between German and Greek literatures, and this would not have been possible without Athens,” he added, where his identity as a writer and intermediary was shaped.
Klaus-Dieter Lehmann called the prize recipients “passionate ambassadors of books in the German language” and said he could not conceive of better colleagues in the Goethe-Institut’s literature sector.

The Goethe Medal was first awarded in 1954 and was adopted as an official state award in 1975. The official award ceremony used to be held on the anniversary of Goethe’s death (March 22), but as of 2009 it has been awarded on August 28, Goethe’s birthday.

Source: AMNA