L’évolution des relations franco-helléniques : de l’expédition du Mataroa à la création des Départements de Langue et Littérature françaises en Grèce et des Départements d’Études néo-helléniques en France

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine how Greece proceeded with the establishment of Departments of French Language and Literature, what France contributed to their development—particularly in the wake of the success of the Mataroa expedition—the impact these new university teaching and research units had on French-language education at all levels in Greece, the changes they later underwent and the reasons for them, as well as the consequences of these developments. The article also briefly discusses how the two countries approached the development of modern Greek language and culture studies in France. Concrete examples drawn from over forty-two years of experience in higher education—as a French teacher in Greek universities, a professor specializing in a French language and culture department, and a lecturer in modern Greek in a modern Greek department in France—will illustrate these points, in order to highlight the achievements and the limits of cultural and scientific diplomacy between the two countries.