How did this book project begin?  

In the last three decades, there has been a surge in public history and a flood of memory ceremonies, anniversaries, and “wars of memory” in Greece about major historical events such as the Greek Civil War. Public dialogue and debates surrounding the past, coupled with the “right to memory” advocated by increasingly diverse social groups, evolved alongside Greek academics’ interest in researching issues of traumatic memory. New anniversaries, such as a day of remembrance for the Pontian Greek genocide, were established. New monuments, including a holocaust memorial in Thessaloniki, were erected. This evolution gave rise to memory tourism. Cultural products and practices recalled – and commodified – the collective past. In this context, around ten years ago, I embarked on a research project focusing on the transnational history of parades in Europe. Using transfer studies and histoire croisée, I aimed to explore how traditional processions during public festivals (initially of religious relevance) transformed into increasingly formalized parades in the context of the nation-building process. I began working on that topic during a sabbatical leave in Paris, and I applied for a fellowship at the Seeger Center some years later to deepen my research on this topic.

Please tell us about your time at the Seeger Center and the research you conducted then.

I arrived at the Seeger Center planning to work on a research project titled Nations on Parade: Cultural Transfers in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Europe. However, during my stay at Princeton, I revised my idea and considered parades as part of a broader historical culture that developed in the context of modernity across Europe. The intellectual environment of the Seeger Center, the lectures and workshops hosted by the Davis Center for Historical Studies and the Humanities Council, and, most importantly, the wealth of resources I discovered at Firestone Library and the Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology had a decisive impact on my research questions and method. Discussions with distinguished colleagues at Princeton and participation in the global academic debate were very important to me. The Monday lunch and other events organized by the Seeger Center provided the ideal setting for contacts with colleagues, invited scholars, other visiting fellows and post-docs, and graduate students. I formed lasting ties with many of them and have scheduled joint activities and collaborations since completing my fellowship at the Seeger Center.