Dante in Smyrna: imagery of destruction and forced migration from Turkey's Aegean littoral in the early Republican period

Analysing the imageries prevalent among the citizens of the young Turkish Republic in the post-Catastrophe Smyrna/Izmir, this article aims to shed light on the reflections of the destruction, forced migration, and economic provincialization of the ethnically-cleansed city. Aside from regular newspaper reports, travelogues and other popular literature accounts produced by local Muslims also recounted the haunting character of the ravaged region. The common word ‘loss’ in these post-Catastrophe narratives indicates what is apprehended by the imagery and discourse of mourning, trauma, sadness, and nostalgia from the victors’ perspective.