Tradition in the Frame

Konstantinos Kalantzis

Description

Sfakians on the island of Crete are known for their distinctive dress and appearance, fierce ruggedness, and devotion to traditional ways. Konstantinos Kalantzis explores how Sfakians live with the burdens and pleasures of maintaining these expectations of exoticism for themselves, for their fellow Greeks, and for tourists. Sfakian performance of masculine tradition has become even more meaningful for Greeks looking to reimagine their nation's global standing in the wake of stringent financial regulation, and for non-Greek tourists yearning for rootedness and escape from the post-industrial north. Through fine-grained ethnography that pays special attention to photography, Tradition in the Frame explores the ambivalence of a society expected to conform to outsiders' perception of the traditional even as it strives to enact its own vision of tradition. From the bodily reenactment of historical photographs to the unpredictable, emotionally-charged uses of postcards and commercial labels, the book unpacks the question of power and asymmetry but also uncovers other political possibilities that are nested in visual culture and experiences of tradition and the past. Kalantzis explores the crossroads of cultural performance and social imagination where the frame is both empowerment and subjection.

Contents<\>

List of Illustrations

List of Maps

Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration

Introduction

Part 1 Spatial and National Contexts

1. Driving Up the Yellow Lines: Geography and Imagination

2. Sfakians in the Nation-State

Part 2 On Hegemony

3. Mountain Men as Photographic Subjects and Spectators

4. Performing the Stereotype: Between Containment and "Recalcitrant Alterity"

5. The Experiential in the Fictive: A Film Shoot as Visceral History

6. Who Is Imagining? The Encounter between Shepherds and Scientists

Part 3 Modernity and Its Discontents

7. Polluting Modernity, Disturbing Pasts: Photography and Montage Logic

8. Sfakians and Tourists

Epilogue

Biobliography

Index

Sujets

• Men's Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Visión
• Película fotográfica
• Visual system
• Masculinity
• Criticism
• General officer
• Gender
• Tourism
• Photography
• Anthropology
• General
• Greek
• Greece
• Social
• Film
• Culture
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 09 août 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253044891
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

TRADITION IN THE FRAME
NEW ANTHROPOLOGIES OF EUROPE
Michael Herzfeld, Melissa L. Caldwell, and Deborah Reed-Danahay, editors
TRADITION IN THE FRAME
Photography, Power, and Imagination in Sfakia, Crete
Konstantinos Kalantzis
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2019 by Konstantinos Kalantzis
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-03712-1 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-253-03713-8 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-253-03714-5 (ebook)
1 2 3 4 5 24 23 22 21 20 19
Note about the cover image: A copy of a photograph taken around 1939 by professional photographer Nelly, working under commission from the Metaxas regime s Under-Ministry for Press and Tourism, rests on an artisan s workbench in highland Sfakia. This image was taken during one of many discussions I had with my interlocutors around archival photographs that I brought to the field. Such historical portraits are rare and are highly prized by Sfakians-especially the sitters descendants, though viewers often deconstruct the photographers staging of their forebears. Sfakians who examine such images are primarily concerned with identifying and naming the subjects, who tend to go unnamed in archives and published books, and they also comment on sitters life histories and local reputations. My interlocutors couldn t identify the men in this particular historical image though they speculated about their names. Workbench photo by the author, 2012; historical photo by Nelly, ca. 1939, copyright Benaki Museum Photographic Archive.
CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

List of Maps

Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration

Introduction

Part I Spatial and National Contexts

1 Driving Up the Yellow Lines: Geography and Imagination

2 Sfakians in the Nation-State

Part II On Power

3 Mountain Men as Photographic Subjects and Spectators

4 Performing the Stereotype: Between Containment and Recalcitrant Alterity

5 The Experiential in the Fictive: A Film Shoot as Visceral History

6 Who Is Imagining? The Encounter between Shepherds and Scientists

Part III Modernity and Its Discontents

7 Polluting Modernity, Disturbing Pasts: Photography and Montage Logic

8 Sfakians and Tourists

Epilogue

References

Index
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 0.1. Sfakians showing me photographs of their ancestors.
Figure 1.1. View from Xylodema.
Figure 1.2. Road signs with bullet holes.
Figure 2.1. Poster at Athens International Airport.
Figure 2.2. Postcard stands in western Crete.
Figure 2.3. Differing visual approaches to Cretan pastoralism by professional photographers George Meis and Alexis Vallianos.
Figure 3.1. Photographs of Giorgis Valiris by Nelly.
Figure 3.2. Photograph of Manolis Nikoloudis by George Meis.
Figure 3.3. Postcard collage showing western Cretan landscapes and profile shot of Giorgis Valiris.
Figure 3.4. Postcard depicting a Sfakian man with church in background.
Figure 3.5. Olive oil label with image of Giorgis Valiris.
Figure 3.6. The visual motif of the Cretan man in formal attire.
Figure 3.7. Historical postcards in private Sfakian collections.
Figure 3.8. Decommercialized uses of Manolis Nikoloudis postcard image.
Figure 3.9. Display in a corner of a merchant s office.
Figure 4.1. Images reflecting continuity between national articulation and local imagination.
Figure 4.2. Depictions of the man staring way motif.
Figure 4.3. Depictions of the hand-to-heart pose.
Figure 4.4. Photo of Greek kilted figure in museum-like interior.
Figure 4.5. Family photograph in a highland coffeehouse.
Figure 4.6. Newspaper photograph of an actor that a Sfakian has Cretanized.
Figure 5.1. Nineteenth-century Cretan fighters during a gathering in Tzitzifes.
Figure 5.2. Display on a wall in a Chaniot musician s home.
Figure 5.3. Images showing visual continuity between past and present.
Figure 5.4. Accessing the past in the mountainous landscape.
Figure 6.1. Early twentieth-century imagery registering urban interest in rural production.
Figure 6.2. Photographs of kin on a senior couple s living room wall.
Figure 6.3. Sfakian man with fez-like headwear photographed by Nelly.
Figure 6.4. Photograph of a Cretan man by Constantine Manos.
Figure 6.5. Sfakian man photographed by Nelly.
Figure 6.6. Sfakian men photographed by Nelly.
Figure 7.1. Postcard showing a contemporary Cretan man in traditional dress.
Figure 7.2. Sfakian men photographed by Nelly.
Figure 7.3. Sfakian men photographed by Nelly.
Figure 7.4. Photograph of Sfakian men by Voula Papaioannou
Figure 7.5. Abandoned stone houses.
Figure 8.1. Photographs taken by visitors to Sfakia.
Figure 8.2. Half-destroyed pages of visitor comment book left on a mountain peak.
Figure 8.3. Photographs taken by non-Greek visitors to Sfakia.
Figure 8.4. A group of local men around a table in the company of a female visitor.
Figure 8.5. Tourist mementoes in a mountain kiosk.
Figure 9.1. Display on a wall in a coastal restaurant.
LIST OF MAPS
Map 1.1. Map of Greece and surrounding area.
Map 1.2. Map of Crete.
Map 1.3. Map of the Municipality of Sfakia showing physiographic features.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T HIS BOOK IS THE CULMINATION OF MORE THAN a decade of research in and on Sfakia, and many people have left their marks on its pages. I embarked on this work while pursuing my doctoral degree, during which time I benefited enormously from the guidance of Chris Pinney and Charles Stewart, my academic supervisors in the Department of Anthropology at University College London. I am deeply grateful to Chris for his tremendous inspiration and exhaustive support and to Charles for his meticulous and creative advice. I am also very thankful to the late Peter Loizos, Elizabeth Edwards, Ren e Hirschon, Marcus Banks, Chris Tilley, Allen Abramson, and Martin Holbraad for constructive criticism and intellectual stimulation during that period. In Greece, my work profited from productive discussions during workshops for doctoral students at the University of the Aegean Department of Anthropology and at the University of Crete Department of History and Archaeology. I thank the organizers of and participants in those events, among others, Akis Papataxiarchis, Theodoros Paradellis, Panos Panopoulos, Venetia Kantza, Christos Hadjiiosif, Sokratis Petmezas, Efi Avdela, Giannis Kokkinakis, and Aglaia Kasdagli.
I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the University College London Research Project Fund, and the University of London Central Research Fund for financially assisting me in my research. I also gratefully acknowledge a 2011-2012 Mary Seeger O Boyle Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Center for Hellenic Studies, Princeton University for providing support for writing and thinking through the issues this book explores. Special thanks go to Dimitri Gondicas and other members of the center s staff for creating a hospitable and stimulating environment. At Princeton, I also benefited from insightful feedback from and discussions with Carol Greenhouse, John Borneman, and Lisa Davis. For support during manuscript preparation, I am also grateful to the PhotoDemos project, which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 695283).
I was able to think through some of the ideas presented in these pages while teaching at San Francisco State University and the University of Bern. I am particularly grateful for thoughtful comments from and discussions with students, colleagues Alexandra Pappas, David Leitao, Michaela Sch uble, and Stanley Brandes, and interlocutors at public talks I gave in spring 2016 and winter 2017.
Throughout the years, I have received fruitful feedback while presenting my research in various venues, and I would like to thank convenors and commentators, including Eleana Yalouri, Vangelis Calotychos, Alexandra Bakalaki, Elsa Amanatidou, Aimee Places, Elpida Rikou, Othon Alexandrakis, Heath Cabot, Noelle Mol , Neni Panourgi , Dimitra Madianou, Vassiliki Yiakoumaki, Kerstin Poehls, Ritsa Deltsou, Foteini Tsimpiridou, Sissy Theodosiou, and Elia Vardaki. I have also had the opportunity to rework some of my ideas through collaboration with the editors of a number of scholarly publications. For their valuable advice, I thank Gustaaf Houtman, Angelique Haugerud, Yannis Hamilakis, Eleni Papargyriou, Philip Carabott, Andrew Shryock, David Akin, Jenny Chio, and Mark Westmoreland. I am grateful to my UCL colleagues Chris Pinney, Naluwembe Binaisa, Ileana Selejan, Vindhya Buthpitiya, and Sokphea Young, collaborators in the PhotoDemos project, for facilitating a realm of exciting explorations of photography and the social.
Many frien