Nikos Kazantzakis and Grigorios Xenopoulos· Professional Writers at the Time of the Linguistic Question

Abstract

G. Xenopoulos and N. Kazantzakis are two special cases of Greek writers who lived from their pen. An important part of their work is produced in the first decades of the 20th century, in years in which the Linguistic Revolution is in its acute phase. Although both show a clear preference for the predominance of the demotic, they have to fall back for reasons related to the status of “professional writer”. In the case of Xenopoulos, the retreat takes the form of the adoption of a mixed language and becomes the object of criticism by demoticists. The case of Kazantzakis is more paradoxical, as he has been deeply involved in the Linguistic Confrontation. However, his absolute demoticism is accompanied by compromises. While he produces work in the demotic and writes articles in favor of it, he also accepts for reasons of livelihood the use of katharevousa in his translations and in a school book.