ABSTRACT
In contemporary Greek fiction the 1980s were a decade of introversion, of private life winning over public life, of personal histories overriding important historical events, all this taking place largely within Greece's geographical borders. This chapter presents a detailed discussion of some representative individual novels and attempts to trace some common features and tendencies. The nineteen novels can be broadly divided into three categories. The first type seems to be preoccupied with a kind of intellectual search that will lead to a fuller and deeper self-awareness and possibly give a meaning to life. In the second type of novel, the characters literally escape to other places, either because Greece is too confining for them or because it creates their problems or simply cannot offer them any solutions. In the third group of novels, the characters have been living abroad for studies or work, and they give an account of their experiences.
