Απάντηση Ακαδημαικών...

A group of Greek academics respond to a Balkanalysis.com interview (12/14/08) featuring University of Chicago Professor of Slavic Languages & Literatures and Linguistics Victor Friedman, and focusing on Balkan history and culture.
(πηγή: Hellenic Electronic Center)

In his interview on Balkanalysis.com (12/14/2008) [1], Linguistics professor and Balkan Studies scholar Victor Friedman portrays Greeks as a most undemocratic and oppressive nation, from ancient to present time, and places the role of Greece in the Balkans in a most negative light. The core of his arguments seems to lie in what he considers suppression of multilingualism and minorities in Greece, which he associates with the current dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the name of the latter country. As scholars and academics, some of us students of Macedonian history and culture, we wish to offer an alternative perspective and rebut Friedman’s views and assertions in regard to the identity of the modern Greek nation and the true nature of the current dispute between Greece and FYROM. It should be noted that, prior to our decision to write this letter, we invited Dr. Friedman to debate his views in the Hellenic Electronic Center/Professors’ Forum*, but he declined our invitation.
Friedman’s overt bias is best exemplified in his remark “Greeks get away with this
‘cradle of democracy’ image! Give me a break! Ancient Greece was a slave-owning
society,” which defies further comment. It is indeed unfortunate that such a statement came from a scholar.
We will not respond with similar sensationalism here. Rather, we will remain close to the facts and scholarly sources, and address those points made by Friedman which might sound reasonable to a reader who is not familiar with the past and the recent history of the Southern Balkan region.
1) Friedman states that “Greeks have been trying to destroy the Slavic culture and its literacy since the Middle Ages”.
Quite to the contrary, the Greeks of Byzantium...(full response here)

Ομάδα Ελλήνων πανεπιστημιακών απαντούν στην συνέντευξη (balkanalysis.com, 14-12-08) του καθηγητή Σλαβικών Γλωσσών & Λογοτεχνιών και Γλωσσολογίας στο Πανεπιστήμιο του Σικάγου Victor Friedman, με επίκεντρο την ιστορία και τον πολιτισμό των Βαλκανίων.

Η επιστολή