The Culture of Contemporary
Greece, MGS/ANTH 316
Monday, 4:10 pm to 6:55 pm, HUM
383
Roland S. Moore, Ph.D. Office
Hour: 3-4 pm, HUM 577
Phone: (510) 872-6201 (5 pm to 11pm) Email:
rolandmo@pacbell.net
Through lectures, class discussions,
readings and video presentations, students are introduced to the contemporary
culture of Greece within the framework of the social sciences, particularly
anthropology and folklore. Over the fifteen weeks of this course, the basic
social structure and expressive culture of Modern Greece will be explored, with
reference to the ways in which traditional modes of making a living and
upholding a reputation have been challenged by economic and political changes
over the past century. Students in the class will be encouraged to participate
in discussions and will be responsible for critiquing readings in weekly
assignments. A five-to-ten page paper on a Greek cultural celebration will be
due in the middle of the course, and at the end of the course, a
fifteen-to-twenty page final paper on some aspect of Modern Greek culture (the
topic to be chosen by each student in consultation with the instructor).
1. Course objective:
This course will survey a wide
spectrum of writings on the culture of contemporary Greece, with three specific
goals in mind: first, to expose students to an in-depth view of modern Greek
culture; second, to give them practice in writing and talking about other ways
of life; and third, to demonstrate anthropological tools for understanding and
thinking critically about another culture.
2. Course content:
A variety of issues in the
anthropology of Greece will be covered in this course.
A recurring theme will be the
pervasive character of gender roles in family and social life. Gender plays a
central role in the social and spatial organization of homes and villages. It
is also important in rural and urban dances, songs and folktales. Another
significant topic will be the expressive role of religion and rituals in
contemporary Greek life, especially those concerned with key life crises and
death. The symbolism embodied in Greek food and its preparation will constitute
a distinctive focus of the course this year.
One other theme that will be
important throughout the course will be Greek responses to economic and
political changes. Students in the class will learn about and discuss such
issues as rural to urban migration, Greece's relationship to Europe (both
before and since integration into the European Union), social class and
differential responses to economic change, and tourism as an agent of change.
Romantic images of Greece will be questioned and compared with anthropological
accounts of everyday life in modern Greece.
3. Instructional methods:
The
class will rely upon lectures (many of which will be illustrated with slides
from fieldwork in Greece), videos on various aspects of Greek culture and
recent history, accessible yet thought-provoking readings from the extensive
anthropological literature on Greece, and class discussions of the material
presented. Reserve books are
listed at http://opac.sfsu.edu/search/p?SEARCH=Moore
. There are also separate articles
available in the files section for the MGS 316 class on SFSU's online iLearn
system at https://ilearn.sfsu.edu/files/index.php?id=54202
. Note that the readings listed
for each week are to be completed prior to that lecture. An optional group field trip to a Greek
festival will be offered.
Additionally, a course website is available at http://homepage.mac.com/rolandmoore/sfsu/
4. Course evaluation:
Students will be graded upon the
following aspects of participation in the course: (a) attendance [10%], (b) participation
in class discussions [10%], (c) weekly written brief assignments, critiquing
the readings [20%], (d) a five page paper on a Greek cultural celebration [20%]
and (e) a final paper (fifteen to twenty pages in length) on some aspect of
Modern Greek culture [40%], the topic of which will be established in
consultation with the instructor.
Important: late papers/assignments cannot be given full credit; plan
ahead.
5. Plagiarism policy:
Plagiarism
occurs when a student misrepresents the work of another as his or her own. Plagiarism may consist of using the
ideas, sentences, paragraphs, or the whole text of another without appropriate
acknowledgment, but it also includes employing or allowing another person to
write or substantially alter work that a student then submits as his or her
own. Any assignment found to be
plagiarized will be given an "F" grade. All instances of plagiarism in the College of Humanities
will be reported to the Dean of the College, and may be reported to the
University Judicial Affairs Officer for further action. (Quotation taken from
"College of Humanities Plagiarism Resources, http://www.sfsu.edu/~collhum/plagiarism.html
)
6. Accessibility policy:
I wish to make this course as accessible as possible to students with disabilities or medical conditions that may affect any aspect of course assignments or participation. You are invited to communicate with me at the outset of the course or at your discretion about any accommodations that will improve your experience of or access to the course. You can also contact the Disability Resource Center at 338-2472 (Voice/TDD).
Schedule:
Week 1, Aug. 27. Introduction.
Goals and expectations of the class.
Film: "Never on Sunday"
(1960). Discussion of insiders, outsiders, and Hellenism.
[Labor Day, Sept. 3, no class
today]
Week 2, Sept. 10. Rural economy
1: Farmers and fishermen
Lecture: traditional agricultural
livelihoods in Greece.
Reading: iLearn-Susan Buck Sutton,
"The Greeks," Friedl, Vasilika, Chaps 1-3, Hoffman p. 67 and 550 and 562-565, and
Blau et al. "Foreword
, Ian Hancock," "Preface, and "The Most Important Instruments in
the World."
iLearn-Optional Reading: Seraphim
Seferiades, "Small Rural Ownership, Subsistence Agriculture, and Peasant
Protest in Interwar Greece: The Agrarian Question Recast."
iLearn-Optional Reading: Hamish
Forbes, "'The Thrice-Plowed Field': Cultivation Techniques in Ancient and
Modern Greece."
Week 3, Sept. 17. Rural economy
2: Pastoralists of the mountains
Lecture and Slide show: Greek
shepherds hunting for wolves, struggling for economic survival.
Reading: iLearn-Roland Moore
"Metaphors of Encroachment: Hunting for Wolves on a Central Greek
Mountain," Hoffman p. 28 and 211-213; and Blau et al. "Layered Identities and
Improvised Traditions: Roma in the Byzantine-Ottoman-Greek Continuum" and
"The Roma Jumaya."
iLearn-Optional Reading: Harold
Koster, "The Thousand Year Road."
Week 4, Sept. 24. Gender in
Greece: Women's and men's roles
Films: "Kypseli: Women and men
apart" and "Gynekokratia" trailer.
Reading: Friedl, Chap. 4; Hoffman
pp. 118-147; and Paxson, Introductory matter and Chapter 1-2 (pp. ix-101)
iLearn-Optional Reading: Joan Bouza
Koster, "From Spindle to Loom: Weaving in the Southern Argolid."
Week 5, Oct. 1. Social and
spatial organization of home and village.
Lecture and slide show on the
changing uses and meanings of traditional Greek architecture.
Readings: Friedl Chaps 5 and 6, iLearn-Pavlides & Hesser,
"Women's Roles and House Form..."
Optional: Initial Paper draft due
in class October 1 for comments.
Week 6, Oct. 8. Rural to urban
migration, and more recently, urban-rural migration.
Film: "Athens: In Search of the
Lost City"
Reading: iLearn- Renee Hirschon,
"Under One Roof: Marriage, Dowry and Family Relations in Piraeus."
Hoffman p. 34; Paxson, Chapter 3 (pp. 102-159).
iLearn-Optional Reading: Gabriella
Aspraki ,"Karagatsiot Voluntary Associations: 'Out of love for our
village.'"
Week 7,
Oct. 15. The expressive role of rural dances, songs and folktales.
Social class and differential
responses to economic change.
Film: "All that Glitters."
Reading: iLearn- Diane Bennett,
"Bury Me in Second Class: Contested Symbols in a Greek Cemetery" and
iLearn-Margaret Kenna, "The Power of the Dead: Changes in the Construction
and Care of Graves and Family Vaults on a Small Greek Island."
First paper due October 15 in
class.
Week 8, Oct. 22. Urban
expressions of protest through song and dance
Film: "Discover Greece: The Power of Song"
Reading: Blau et al. "Mahala Album" and "The
Life of Mitsos Hindzos."
Week 9, Oct. 29. Religion and
rituals 1: Baptisms and weddings, and Carnival (like our Halloween).
Film: "Let's Get Married"
Readings: Paxson, Chapter 4
(pp.160-211); and Blau et al. "In Their Own Words, Translated."
Optional:
iLearn-Marios Sarris, "Pitfalls of Intellection: Pedagogical
Concerns on Mount Athos."
Final paper topic due Oct. 29.
Week 10, Nov. 5. Religion and rituals
2: Death rituals and festivals for saints.
Films: "Amarantos" and
"Anastenaria"
Readings: Paxson, Chapter 5 (pp. 212-254), iLearn- Jane A. Sansom,
"Appropriating Social Energy: The Generation, Accumulation, and Conversion
of Capital in the Performance of the Anastenária," and Blau et al. "Rides of Inclusion" and "Afterword – Dick
Blau."
Week 11, Nov. 12. No class; Veteran's Day [was going to be: Relations between families, neighbors, and strangers.] Note: feel free to email or call the instructor during this week and the next, even though we shall not hold class on the weeks of the 12th and 19th.
Readings: Optional- Hoffman pp. 484-487;
iLearn- Optional -Juliet du Boulay, "Strangers and Gifts: Hostility and Hospitality
in Rural Greece"
Week 12, Nov. 26. Alcohol in its
social contexts in Greece.
Slide show on alcohol use in secular
and religious contexts.
Readings: iLearn- Dimitra
Gefou-Madianou, "Exclusion and unity, retsina and sweet wine: commensality
and gender in a Greek agrotown"; Hoffman pp. 7-23; and iLearn-Roland
Moore, "Gender and Alcohol in a Central Greek Tourist Town.".
Required: Paper draft due in class
Nov. 26 for comments
Week 13, Dec. 3. Tourism and
migration as agents of change in Modern Greece.
Lecture with slide show on tourism
in Central Greece; Film: Harpoons and Heartaches
Readings: iLearn- Susan Buck-Morss,
"Semiotic Boundaries and the Politics of Meaning."
iLearn-Optional reading: Lydia
Papadimitriou, "Traveling on Screen: Tourism and the Greek Film
Musical."
Week 14, Dec. 10. Greece in the
European Union - Initial presentations on final papers,
Film: "My family and me."
Brief presentations by students on their final paper topics.
Readings: iLearn- Eric L. Ball,
"Greek Food After Mousaka: Cookbooks, “Local” Culture, and the Cretan
Diet. " and iLearn- Vassiliki Yiakoumaki, 'Local,' 'Ethnic,' and 'Rural'
Food: On the Emergence of 'Cultural Diversity' in Post-EU-Accession Greece
Week 15, Dec. 17. Conclusion of
the course.
Brief presentations by students on
their final paper topics. Wrap-up
and overview of course.
Final paper due Dec. 17 in class
- it can be turned in early but cannot be late because the instructor is
leaving for Greece shortly thereafter!
No assigned reading
Required books:
Blau, Dick, Charles Keil, Angeliki
Vellou-Keil, Steven Feld
2003 Bright
Balkan Morning: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia. Wesleyan University Press. New: $39.95, Used: ~$31.20 at SFSU bookstore.
Friedl, Ernestine [no longer in
print; borrow copy from instructor]
1962 Vasilika:
A Village in Modern Greece. New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston.
Hoffman, Susanna
2004 The
Olive and the Caper. New York: Workman Press. New: $19.95, Used: $15.60 at SFSU
bookstore.
Paxson, Heather.
2004
Making Modern Mothers: Ethics and Family Planning in Urban Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press. New: $25.95, Used: $20.25 at SFSU
bookstore.
Cultural celebrations for 5-10
page paper: See
http://www.greekfestivals.bravehost.com for updates
Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 2, 3: Sacramento, annunciation.ca.goarch.org (916)
443-2033
Sept. 1, 2, 3: Belmont, GoHolyCross.org (650) 591-4447
Sept. 1, 2, 3: Montery Fisherman's
Wharf, stjohn-monterey.org (831)
424-4434
Sept. 7, 8, 9: Santa Cruz, Prophet
Elias, www.propheteliassantacruz.org 223 Church St., (831) 429-6500
Sept. 14, 15, 16: Concord Greek
Festival, www.stdemetrios.ca.goarch.org
(925) 676-6967
Sept. 28, 29, 30 San Francisco
Annunciation Cathedral, www.annunciation.org/festival
245 Valencia St., (415) 864-8000
Revised
8/26/07