by Christos Zabounis

Until recently, to become known in the literary world, one had to either have written a sensational debut novel, e.g. “Bonjour Tristesse” by Francoise Sagan, at the age of 17, or to be established in the aformentioned world after a steady and consistent ergography. In Greece, Sagan’s equivalent can be found in “The Wise Child” by Christos Homenidis, which he wrote at the age of 23 and was published four years later. I stick to the age-matter, because at 32, Rena Luna published her first book, The Foxes of Père-Lachaise, but went viral attacking a colleague’s writing, and more specifically Karagatsis’s The Great Chimera. Quoting from the classic novel of post-war Greek Literature, in the sense that it is still being read, she denounces the “patriarchy that did not grow by itself”, and the “sexist dissonance, made of buzzwords of hatred and Christian punishment, given to the superlative degree”, among other claims. The good news – and we’ll dwell on it – is that there was a confrontation over a spiritual issue, regardless of whether the woke culture subsequently moved towards its “beloved” cancel technique. Those famous intellectuals who rushed to support the reasonable argument of criticizing a work within the historical contexts in which it was written were condemned in absentia as “middle-aged reactionaries”, while the “young people” celebrated hiding behind the anonymity of their Social Media accounts for another victory. Overnight, the otherwise likable, judging by her photographs, Rena Luna became famous for giving interviews not about “The Foxes of Père-Lachaise” but about deconstructing Karagatsi’s work. Different times, different principles.