Cosmopolitan Memory in Europe's 'Backwaters'

<p><em>Cosmopolitan Memory in Europe’s ‘Backwaters’</em> reconsiders the definitional relationships of ‘national character’ and ‘national heritage’ in the context of Western industrial modernity. Taking as a case study the Greek islands of Skiathos and Skopelos which served as cinematic locations for the blockbuster <em>Mamma Mia!</em> (2008) the book explores how national identity - once shaped by political cultural and religious practices - can now be reduced to little more than an ideal created and sold globally by Western industries such as tourism and film. </p><p>Tzanelli argues how the film encouraged the development of regional competitions that further enhanced the emotive potential of a Greek nationalist discourse that projects the blame for regional favouritism onto Western agents and the nation-state itself. It also takes into consideration the historical background of this controversy which finds roots in the religious heritage of the South-eastern Mediterranean region – in particular the notions of Byzantine Christianity which the Greeks used to set against the Islamic traditions of their Ottoman colonisers to affirm their European civility.</p>