The City and the Myth
This book collects the results of an international workshop in Çanakkale, Turkey, organised in July 2022 as a part of the COST Action Writing Urban Places. Çanakkale sits in the region that is believed to be that of the ancient Troy, whose destruction is featured in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.The workshop investigated the relationship between the city of Çanakkale and the myth of Troy. Following outdoor itineraries, the participants collected personal visual interpretations of Çanakkale using a travelogue, intended as a tool that spatialises their sentimental journey.
a journey in space and time
Embarking on a workshop with the aim of exploring the narrative potential of the myth and the site, I set out with the assumption that the myth of Troy would overrule everything in Çanakkale. However, it is not so straightforward to say anything conclusive about the impact of the myth of Troy on the city of Çanakkale, separated by 30 kilometres and 3000 years. There is no singular, large story that bridges the gap between Troy and Çanakkale, that can clear the mists of fiction, myth, and fable. In the workshop and the ensuing paper I documented a collection of micro-stories, and it is only through their messy heterogeneity that we can see possible connections and relations shimmering through…
In Giuseppe Resta ed. The City and the Myth Casa Editrice Libria 2022. pp. 18-21.