Memory as Triumph and Trauma: Reviewing the Greek Historiography of the Asia Minor Catastrophe alongside Mustafa Kemal's Nutuk

Abstract

This article examines the construction of collective memory surrounding the Asia Minor Campaign and the Catastrophe of 1922 through a comparative analysis of Greek historiography and Mustafa Kemal's Nutuk. It focuses on the ways in which historical narratives construct national identity, attribute responsibility, represent the Other, and interpret defeat and victory. The study reviews major developments in Greek historiography of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, from interpretations shaped by the National Schism to more recent approaches emphasizing structural weaknesses, political divisions, and the international context. It then examines Nutuk as a political and historiographical text and considers its role in the construction of Kemalist national memory. Drawing on theories of imagined communities, collective memory, multidirectional memory, and mnemonic relationality, the article argues that Greek and Turkish memories of 1922 should not be understood simply as opposing narratives of trauma and triumph. Rather, they constitute interconnected and contested memory frameworks shaped by political, social, and historiographical developments. The article also considers the role of refugee memory, competing national narratives, and contemporary revisionist approaches in both Greece and Turkey.