Publication of The SOAS Rebetiko Reader

Επικαιρότητα
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Dear All,

For those who are interested in such matters, there is great news.

Our “SOAS REBETIKO READER” has just arrived from the printers. It is a
lovely piece of work.

The book is the outcome of 20+ years of research seminars and
conferences that I have organised, both at our annual Hydra Rebetiko
Gathering and at the School of Oriental and African Studies [SOAS, London].

The book contains many articles, some by leading researchers in the
field and some by amateur researchers.

It has 320 pages, with many colour illustrations, and printed in
hardback. It costs £35.00.

Copies can be ordered through the (ex-) SOAS Bookshop, by writing to

josephburridgebooks@gmail.com

We shall be organising two book launches – one in London and one in
Paris – at the end of October. You are invited to join us.

*Please Note*: We have also posted all of the articles on a dedicated
web page, where you can read and download individual articles for free.

Here is the link:

With rebetological greetings,

E.

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We had discussed it here:

I see that a few of the missing texts have also been added, such as the preface, where we read the following noteworthy observation:

Rebetiko is not a national Greek music (although at a certain point it was more or less nationalised). As is shown in the various chapters of this book, it embodies musical influences from many diverse sources

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Has anyone counted, over 10 pages of a Greek dictionary, what percentage, on average, consists of words borrowed from other languages? Or words of Greek origin that were nevertheless first coined in a foreign language and then entered Greek (e.g. “telephone”)?

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How do you interpret this—as meaning that it is foreign music? I interpret it as meaning that it is not “national”, in the sense that, at various times, the national music was the tsamiko, Kalomiris, marches such as “The Army Passes By”, etc.

5

I wonder whether we can speak of “national” music at all, and to what extent, through the prism of the purity of its geographical designation?? Are there forms of music that are “national”?}

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Although the question about personal interpretation wasn’t addressed to me, I couldn’t find any particular context in the preface that would help us understand it. As Anthimos conveyed it, that’s how it is; there’s nothing more to it. Except that the phrase “although at a certain point it was more or less nationalised” is mentioned in a similar way a little earlier as well:

…the genre has been effectively nationalised – witness the marching rebetiko band in the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

So, one must delve into the volume itself.

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Yes, it is true that I would have liked something more enlightening and more detailed here in terms of Emery’s argumentation.

In my entirely subjective understanding, however, rebetiko constitutes not only Greek music but also national Greek music. What do we call the “Greece national team”? Well, that is what rebetiko is to me: the Greece national team of the urban-popular musical and poetic idioms that have emerged to date.

Beyond Emery’s references to the “rebetiko industry” and to the more or less “effective” “nationalisation” of the “non-national Greek music” that rebetiko is purported to be, I wholeheartedly agree with the late Markos Dragoumis:

(Rebetiko) retains a distinctive character, both in its style and form and in its general nature. In other words, rebetiko contains a balance of form and content, a subordination of its expressive elements to a strictly architected plan, and a terseness of expression that, more than anything else, characterise the backbone of our artistic creation since the era of classical antiquity.

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Let me add an asterisk here: along with Cavafy

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The whole problem lies in the concept of the nation, not only in Greece but also in the countries where it first appeared, namely in Western Europe. When the nation reached the Eastern Mediterranean, the nation as a collective form of organising society brought enormous humanitarian and cultural destruction. Rebetiko defies this concept. So either we call it national music, while recognising that the nation, as far as we are concerned, is not what the English say it is—and that they ended up without a cuisine, dances or music. Or we say: take your nation and leave us alone; we get on perfectly well with our culture as it is, shared and muddled. Rebetiko—that is, folk music—existed before the nation as a way of organising society, and it will exist afterwards too.

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Dear Colleagues of the Rebetiko List,

I am writing to share the following invitation with you.

If you want to join the mailing list for this Tour, write to me at:

ed.emery.soas@gmail.com

The tour is designed in such a way that people can drop in and out, as they need to.

Our Turkish rebetiko colleagues will be joining us for this tour.

With rebetological greetings,

Ed

_____________

INVITATION:

The SOAS Rebetiko Band tour to Istanbul, Izmir, Ayvalik, Lesbos and Athens

Proposed dates are: 25 May to 4 June 2027 [tbc]

You are invited to join a very exciting venture that will take place in

late May 2027.

Last week the SOAS Rebetiko Band embarked on a musical tour to Izmir and

Ayvalik. In both places we met with local Turkish musicians who play

Rebetiko. We did amazing bar sessions and concerts in which we sang each

others songs. We found common ground, because Rebetiko is a shared

musical heritage between Greeks and Turks. It is a genre that knows no

borders.

As an indication of the cultural importance of this trip, they tell me

that the little Instagram clip of our last Saturday’s concert event in

Izmir currently has 125k views and almost 4,500 likes.

Arising out of this trip we are now planning a second tour, to take

place at the end of May 2027. The tour will extend over about 10 days.

The basic details are outlined below. It will be structured in such a

way that people can drop in and out as they wish, depending on the time

that they have available.

This invitation is extended to all interested persons. If you would like

to be kept informed about the latest developments, you will need to join

our mailing list. To join the list, please write to:

ed.emery.soas@gmail.com

[I should add that there is no independent funding for this tour. All

participants will fund their own travel and accommodation.]

THE OUTLINE PLAN

The Rebetiko Band tour will encompass Istanbul / Izmir / Ayvalik /

Lesvos Athens.

The proposed dates are: 25 May to 4 June 2027 [tbc]

The tour is open to all interested parties.

1. We start in Istanbul. Two nights. We do one formal concert there. We

also do bar sessions with local musicians. And an informal afternoon

event in the ships chandlery area of Galata / Karaköy.

2. We fly to Izmir. Again, two nights. We do one gig with students of

the University of the Aegean music conservatoire. This will include an

afternoon seminar session to talk about our shared musics. And a

harbourside bar session in Izmir.

3. We travel up the coast to Ayvalik, where we do a concert at the

lovely Fabrika theatre. Again with local musicians. We shall develop

material from our “Sea Songs of the Mediterranean” programme

4. We travel by ferry boat across to the Greek island of Lesbos /

Mytilene (90 mins.). We shall be joined in our travels by Turkish

musicians from Izmir and Ayvalik.

5. We travel to Athens. I shall be organising a two-day conference

entitled “Prison Songs of the Mediterranean”, to continue the

conferencing work that we initiated at last month’s Mediterranean Music

Studies colloquium in Izmir. The aim is to do at least part of the

conference around the former Oropos prison, north of Athens. There is

significant musical history at Oropos. The conference will include

musical events.

In short, a very fine musical and academic trip.

If you are interested to join, we look forward to hearing from you.

With best regards,

Ed

11

Given that rebetiko constitutes a “shared Greek-Turkish musical heritage”, how did UNESCO recognise it (in 2016) as intangible Greek cultural heritage without the other side raising a procedural objection?

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So Karagiozis is Turkish as well?

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It would be better to stick to rebetiko, but it seems we Hellenised Karagiozis very creatively, so that he could be included in the intangible heritage too:

Θέατρο_Σκιών_Καραγκιόζης-1-1.pdf (253.4 KB)

But I see that Turkish Karagöz also has a place on the UNESCO list

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That is what I meant. So, since there was no procedural objection from the other side, does Turkey claim the art as exclusively Turkish?

I don’t think so.

By the same token, should the Turks have to receive instructions from UNESCO in order to play music? I don’t think so.

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I believe it is not within UNESCO’s remit to give instructions about who should play which music…

Its role is to assess the supporting documentation submitted in each case and to decide whether or not to inscribe the requested intangible cultural heritage.

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Simply (I think), it is stating that there is a form of shadow theatre in Turkey called KARAGÖZ.

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I still do not understand your initial comment.

Since UNESCO says that rebetiko is Greek, do you consider it inappropriate for someone to call it Greek-Turkish musical heritage?

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I would say that, for me, it really is inappropriate for someone to describe it as shared Greek-Turkish heritage.

I feel that it isn’t jointly ours…

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Turkey did not raise any objections because we did not seek to claim ownership of the music played in Turkey. Under international law, each state may register the culture of its territory as it sees fit. Moreover, registering as Greek a type of music that is also found in Turkey and Lebanon does not prevent those states from registering it as their own local tradition.

In other words, it is not like feta in the EU, which is an economic union. UNESCO has a different role.

Moreover, the fact that rebetiko has been legally registered as Greek does not mean that the music is not a mixture of influences from other countries; nor does it diminish its Greek character or its value. On the contrary, it enhances its significance from a musicological and cultural perspective.

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And yet it is shared heritage, and not only with the Turks. It is completely misguided to deny this, because it is clear even to the most ignorant person that this music is shared—especially since a large part of it was in fact developed by people who came from Turkey. As a descendant of refugees, I would never accept anyone erasing the fact that part of my culture comes from Turkey. If the old mainland Greeks don’t like it, what can we do? We should have avoided the Asia Minor Catastrophe, then we wouldn’t have this mess now.