New Publication by Stelios Lekakis: Monuments of Trauma: Archaeology and Politics in Asia Minor, 1919–1922
The Museology Research Laboratory of Ionian University is pleased to highlight the recent publication of the new book by Stelios Lekakis, member of the Laboratory, entitled Monuments of Trauma: Archaeology and Politics in Asia Minor, 1919–1922.
Monuments of Trauma investigates the intersections between archaeology, politics, and warfare during the period of Greek administration in Asia Minor from 1919 to 1922. It focuses on the activities of Greek archaeologists and examines how archaeological practice, monuments, and antiquities became implicated in territorial claims, cultural politics, and competing projects of national identification.
Drawing on archival and bibliographical research, ethnographic documentation, and fieldwork at sites in present-day Turkey, the book approaches this period as a case of “archaeology in wartime.” It considers archaeological sites and museums as spaces in which political authority, historical narratives, and claims to territory were materially articulated.
The study also traces the subsequent memory and silences surrounding these interventions, situating the case within wider discussions of heritage, nationalism, conflict, and the formation of national identities in twentieth-century southeastern Europe.
The Greek edition, Τα μνημεία του τραύματος. Αρχαιολογία & πολιτική στη Μικρά Ασία, 1919–1922, is available in all bookshops by Nefeli Publications. An English-language edition of the book is forthcoming from Ubiquity Press.
The book will be presented on 13th October 2026 at Plous bookshop in Corfu with Dr Kostas Paschalidis, Curator of the National Archaeological Museum.
The Museology Research Laboratory warmly congratulates Stelios Lekakis on this new publication and wishes him every success for the forthcoming English edition.
