Well, here I am again 4 days after my last blog post. I have almost no time to myself here in Greece, and finding time to write my blog is nearly impossible. I return home in the evening after my two-hour class period mentally exhausted and drained. I am ever more frustrated at the workload ahead of me for this week. I have two novels to read and discuss in class by next week, along with my other Greek assignments and keeping you all entertained.
This week there have been strike and protests throughout central Athens, and as a result garbage has begun piling up on all of the streets around us. It's interesting to see the extent of the people's economic frustrations here in Athens.
On Monday I had an interesting conversation with my professor for my Electra course. We talked about the Greek economic crisis, classical education, and hipsters.
My professor, Dr. Glynatsis, is a true renaissance man. He is educated in classical Greek art, theater, and philosophy. His interdisciplinary focus has really shaped the nature of the course. We have examined the nature of tragedy from nearly every angle, but none has been more interesting than the effect modernity has had on tragedy.
The modern world like happy endings. We like things to be tied up in a nice bow. The idea that the world is a randomly chaotic and tragic place, as is the case in classical tragedy, does not mesh well with those ideals.
I said earlier that we talked about hipsters. That might seem to be a weird thing to talk about with ones professor, but let me explain. We were talking about the seemingly shallow nature of the current social climate in America, I threw out the word hipster with respect to that idea and his eyes lit up. He talked about how very recently there has been a movement very similar in Greece. Young, enthusiastic Greeks have decided that being different is trendy, and that everything unique and old-fashioned is in. He said that rather than a genuine appreciation for uniqueness, it was an aesthetic infatuation with the idea of novelty. Being different for the sake of being different, shaking off the ideals of their parents something ambiguous yet different.
If you think about it, this is an interesting analysis of the young, modern Greek culture. It's all borrowed. Throughout Greece you hear popular American artists playing in the cafes, clubs and restaurants have trendy English names, and Greek hip-hop artists uses phrases like "YOLO" on their advertisements. It very interesting how much Western culture has influenced Greece.
I would like to tie this all back to me class on tragedy. "Oh no he didn't!" Yes, yes I did.
If I have learned one thing from this class it is that the artistic expression of a culture is a reflection of it's philosophical underpinnings. Ancient Greece was a country filled with randomness, oppression, fleeting opulence, and vast themes of futility. The Ancient Greeks did not have an extremely well developed or optimistic view of life. They felt oppressed by the world and struggled against arbitrary gods and corrupt men. This was reflected in the poignant messages of tragedians such as Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus. The frustrations of the time were played out in their tragedies.
This week there have been strike and protests throughout central Athens, and as a result garbage has begun piling up on all of the streets around us. It's interesting to see the extent of the people's economic frustrations here in Athens.
On Monday I had an interesting conversation with my professor for my Electra course. We talked about the Greek economic crisis, classical education, and hipsters.
My professor, Dr. Glynatsis, is a true renaissance man. He is educated in classical Greek art, theater, and philosophy. His interdisciplinary focus has really shaped the nature of the course. We have examined the nature of tragedy from nearly every angle, but none has been more interesting than the effect modernity has had on tragedy.
The modern world like happy endings. We like things to be tied up in a nice bow. The idea that the world is a randomly chaotic and tragic place, as is the case in classical tragedy, does not mesh well with those ideals.
I said earlier that we talked about hipsters. That might seem to be a weird thing to talk about with ones professor, but let me explain. We were talking about the seemingly shallow nature of the current social climate in America, I threw out the word hipster with respect to that idea and his eyes lit up. He talked about how very recently there has been a movement very similar in Greece. Young, enthusiastic Greeks have decided that being different is trendy, and that everything unique and old-fashioned is in. He said that rather than a genuine appreciation for uniqueness, it was an aesthetic infatuation with the idea of novelty. Being different for the sake of being different, shaking off the ideals of their parents something ambiguous yet different.
If you think about it, this is an interesting analysis of the young, modern Greek culture. It's all borrowed. Throughout Greece you hear popular American artists playing in the cafes, clubs and restaurants have trendy English names, and Greek hip-hop artists uses phrases like "YOLO" on their advertisements. It very interesting how much Western culture has influenced Greece.
I would like to tie this all back to me class on tragedy. "Oh no he didn't!" Yes, yes I did.
If I have learned one thing from this class it is that the artistic expression of a culture is a reflection of it's philosophical underpinnings. Ancient Greece was a country filled with randomness, oppression, fleeting opulence, and vast themes of futility. The Ancient Greeks did not have an extremely well developed or optimistic view of life. They felt oppressed by the world and struggled against arbitrary gods and corrupt men. This was reflected in the poignant messages of tragedians such as Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus. The frustrations of the time were played out in their tragedies.
Turning to modern Greece, we see a culture in flux. The traditional days of folk music an foustanelles are a fading away slowly. This is reflected in the fact that their contemporary art, fashion, and culture looks more and more Western by the day. A country so rooted in history is confronted with a culture hunger for progress.
Politically, too, we see young people's lack of tolerance for the old, bribery and nepotism based politics. Both sides, the nationalist and the communists are shouting for change, albeit in different directions. The tragedy of modern Greece is not it's struggle against gods or opposing nations, it's a struggle against itself.
Seeing this play out for the past 5 weeks has been so interesting. Because Greeks, who are not supposed to like Americans, look and act a lot like them. There are, of course, differences, but I am more interested in the similarities. Because the similarities, as well as the differences, between Greece and America tell us about our culture too. Are we fighting against ourselves in America? Only time will tell. In Greece, for sure, the people are not standing for the old ways anymore. They are taking to the streets in protest and strikes. Are their actions futile as in the days of old? I have a feeling we will find out sooner rather than later.
Politically, too, we see young people's lack of tolerance for the old, bribery and nepotism based politics. Both sides, the nationalist and the communists are shouting for change, albeit in different directions. The tragedy of modern Greece is not it's struggle against gods or opposing nations, it's a struggle against itself.
Seeing this play out for the past 5 weeks has been so interesting. Because Greeks, who are not supposed to like Americans, look and act a lot like them. There are, of course, differences, but I am more interested in the similarities. Because the similarities, as well as the differences, between Greece and America tell us about our culture too. Are we fighting against ourselves in America? Only time will tell. In Greece, for sure, the people are not standing for the old ways anymore. They are taking to the streets in protest and strikes. Are their actions futile as in the days of old? I have a feeling we will find out sooner rather than later.
No comments:
Post a Comment