Stratis Doukas was born in Moschonisia and was a refugee from
Aivalik, Asia Minor. While studying Law at Athens, the World War I
was declared. He left his studies and enlisted, later fighting during the Asia Minor expedition, during which he was wounded. He
was highly active in studying folk art, especially in the Holy Mountain of
Athos, and was editor, alongside Pikionis, Karantinos, Papaloukas and
Hadjikyriakos-Gikas of the groundbreaking Third Eye magazine. During the
Greek-Italian war he served as a non-comissioned officer and participated in
the Resistance. He was also interested in painting and was one of the founding
members of the Greek Authors Association.
Doukas became widely known with Ιστορία ενός αιχμαλώτου
(1929). It is an antiwar text, like Myrivilis' Η ζωή εν Τάφω and Το
Νούμερο 31328 by Venezis. He has no time for heroism, being much more concerned
with the cultivation of friendship between peoples. It is no coincidence that
on the first page he dedicates the book to “the tortures peoples suffer
in common”.
The plainness of style and the use of a language which is very
close to the speech of common people marks the work. The narrative tells of the
protagonist's captivity by the Turks and his struggle to survive under
appalling conditions, until he can make good his escape and save himself. The
text displays all the elements necessary to give a feel of immediacy to the
narrator's experience. The narrative is in the first person, adjectives and
expressive tropes are used sparingly and realistic descriptions all combine to
this effect, making the text seem like a testimony. The introduction and
conclusion are also important for the achievement of immediacy. Doukas portrays
his own self as merely the recorder of what the captive protagonist, one
Nicholas Kazakoglou, had to say. The sentence structure is of short sentences
linked paratactically; the language incorporates a great many idioms and
Turkish words. It is obvious that Doukas has been influenced by the plain,
unvarnished style of Makriyannis and by naive painters like Theophilos. But we
should bear in mind that the author himself, being highly literate, worked on
the style, which is affectedly popular and not truly popular.
|