“Culture, Compromised, Conflicted”
Variations on music of
Mendelssohn and Hatzithakis by OM
In the late 1980s, there took place a wedding ceremony, held in a city located on the Tennessee River… The event reflected manorial medieval trappings: six bridesmaids, six ushers, maid of honor, flower girl, ring-bearing boy, wedding planner, limousine, austere music. Mainstream “societally-approved” practices were superimposed on the couple. The only ethnic accents were the ceremony language and koumparoi (best couple/man and woman).
The groom (a musician) asked that the music of Manos Hatzithakis be played in the church; he was immediately dismissed with the reply "Who, that communist?"
Whose culture?
Read more about Manos Hatzithakis (also spelled “Hadjidakis”):
Πίστευε και μη ερεύνα. *
*Have faith and forgo thinking.*
or
Πίστευε και μη. Ερεύνα....
How important it was for the immigrant class to survive, against many odds, to establish a foothold in the New World. The newly-arrived formed organizations, presenting fellowship, and a united front against
violence and discrimination. Before long, however, the offspring of immigrants did all they could to emulate the values of the perceived ruling class. It was now all about melding with the perceived puppeteers.
Preservation of language? Not.
Displaying the organized religion? Absolutely. (The latter was
“acceptable” in the membership of established judaeo-christian dogmas and social classes.)
Shepherds were needed to tend the flock. The word went out; scores of plebeian priests travelled to the other side of the ocean, assuming leadership of the ethnic communities. Thanks to the Ottomans, they were preordained ethnarchs, no introduction needed. From that moment of arrival on the shores of the New World, the estate of clergy and their successors have held on to the mantle of ethnic leadership.
Results? The second and third generations identify with their ethnicity via the established religion; knowledge of the language and culture of their ancestors is barely minimal to nonexistent; realization of present-day progression of culture, ethnic and other, is limited to the views as focused by the ecclesiastical prism. All comes together at the annual festival, the ethnic version of the all-county fair. Visitors leave the
festivals, thinking that mousaka, spanakopita, "Zorba dance/opa” and ouzo are the ingredients of Hellenic culture. This has been repeated for decades, with a few tweaks in between. It is reflected in Athena, barely holding her own (in the mini-statue tourist version), alongside a mini-icon of Miriam (aka Mary) sold
in the festival gift shop -- no contest -- the latter wins, hands down (and
clasped together, every Sunday).
OM
2018
Odysseus' Quest 