With The Greek Girl's Story, Alan Singerman presents the first
reliable, stand-alone translation and critical edition of Abbe
Prevost's 1740 literary masterpiece Histoire d'une Grecque moderne.
The text of this new English translation is based on Singerman's
1990 French edition, which Jonathan Walsh called "arguably the most
valuable critical edition" of Prevost's novel to date. This new
edition also includes a complete critical apparatus comprising a
substantial introduction, notes, appendixes, and bibliography, all
significantly updated from the 1990 French edition, taking into
account recent scholarship on this work and providing some
additional reflection on the question of Orientalism. Prevost's
roman a clef is based on a true story involving the French
ambassador to the Ottoman Porte from 1699 to 1711. It is narrated
from the ambassador's viewpoint and is a model of subjective,
unreliable narration (long before Henry James). It is remarkably
modern in its presentation of an enigmatic, ambiguous character, as
the truth about the heroine can never be established with
certainty. It is the story of the tormented relationship between
the diplomat and a beautiful young Greek concubine, Theophe, whom
he frees from a pasha's harem. While her benefactor becomes
increasingly infatuated with her and bent on becoming her lover,
the Greek girl becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming a
virtuous and respected woman. Viewing the ambassador as a father
figure, she condemns his quasi-incestuous passion and firmly
rejects his repeated seduction attempts. Unable to possess the
young woman or tolerate the thought that she might grant to someone
else what she has refused him, the narrator subjects her behavior
to minute scrutiny in an effort to catch her in an indiscretion.
His investigations are fruitless, however, and Theophe, the victim
of incessant persecution, simply dies, leaving all the questions
about her behavior unanswered.
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