Final Report Summary - GREEK WOMEN - DEATH (Greek women and death, ancient and modern: a comparative analysis) Multidisciplinary research is what is needed when we are dealing with such complex subjects as ritual behaviour. Therefore, the project, 'Greek women and death, ancient and modern: a comparative analysis' (GREEK WOMEN - DEATH) combines ethnography with historical sources to examine the relationship between modern Greek death rituals and ancient written and visual sources on the subject of death and gender. During the project period, from 1 May 2011 until 30 April 2013, I have been occupied with the following jobs, as also described in the project description for the implementation of the research: data acquisition, i.e. museum, library, and archive studies at the university and other research centres in Athens, Greek institutions and various foreign institutes. I have carried out extended periods of fieldwork. I have also been occupied with processing data and writing up the manuscript, editing and rewriting of the manuscript, and the final writing up of project. In addition, I have attended conferences (including workshops / seminars) in Greece and abroad with my own paper presentations. Moreover, I have been working on project publications / proceedings, including the preparation of my presented papers / articles. Speeches / lectures have been supported by pictures from the fieldwork. I have published several articles in scientific peer reviewed journals and anthologies, and also published a scientific book in Norwegian. The book which results from the project consists of 8 chapters and a conclusion. The final book will include pictures from my fieldwork and museum studies and is already under contract for publishing at Cambridge Scholars Publishing (Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom). In Greece, I have been carrying out my researches and have been based as a research fellow at the University of Athens. I have collected data at the various libraries and museums in Athens, particularly the National and the Kerameikos Museums. Of libraries in Athens, particularly the French School and the Nordic Library have been consulted. I have also had very fruitful discussions with Greek researchers, particularly Dr Elene Psychogiou (Folklorist). The principal objective of the project is to supplement a male with a female perspective on historical sources. This objective is achieved by throwing new light on women's role in connection with death cult in ancient and modern Greece, a goal that is achieved by examining the following sub-goals: (a) conduct fieldwork in Greece on religious festivals dedicated to deceased persons and other death-rituals; (b) compare the field data with ancient sources through an analysis that concentrates on assumed characteristics connected with the death-cult in the two periods. In between my library, archive and museum researches in Athens, I have therefore had several fruitful periods of fieldwork mainly on Tinos and also had two shorter fieldwork trips to Aegina, but I have also carried out fieldwork in Athens, particularly on the 1st Cemetery and in the church of Aghia Marina. I also attended the festival dedicated to the Panagia (Virgin Mary) Mesosporitissa in Eleusis on 20 November 2011. In Athens I have particularly attended rituals in connection with various Psychosabbata (psyche=soul, sabbato=Saturday), i.e. All Souls' Days. On Tinos I have visited the festival dedicated to the 'Pelagia's Vision' which is celebrated on 23 July twice. Since July - August is the peak of the 'pilgrimage season' on the island, my most extended periods of fieldwork took place at this time both in 2011 and 2012. During these periods I have also participated in several memorial rites which are performed in connection with the commemorative celebrations of deceased persons, and also witnessed the annual celebration of the Dormition of the Panagia on 15 August and the '9th day's ritual of the Panagia' which is celebrated on 23 August, and also the festival dedicated to Aghia (Saint) Paraskevi on 26 July. To stay for a long time permitted me to have several meetings with the nuns in the monastery of Kekhrovouno, the staff at the church of the Annunciation and also make interviews with pilgrims coming to Tinos and residents on the island. In November I have carried out fieldwork on Aegina in connection with the celebration of the festival dedicated to Agios (Saint) Nektarios on 9 November also twice. On January 2012 I had my first return trip to Tinos in connection with the celebration of the 'Anniversary of the Finding of the Holy Icon', 30 January, when several rituals also are performed at the memorials of important persons in connection with the finding of the icon, such as the former bishop on the island, the builders of the church, whose tombs are situated at the east side of the church. Prayers are also said in memory of those who lost their lives and fortunes for the construction of the church. In 2012 the festival was particularly interesting, since the bishop of Aegina and several nuns from the monastery of Aghios Nektarios came to Tinos bringing with them relics of the saint as a gift to the church of the Annunciation. In February 2012 I was back on Tinos in connection with the first annual psychosabbato which is celebrated during carnival. I also participated in a funeral. I was back on Tinos for the celebration of the festival dedicated to the Annunciation both in March 2012 and 2013. In these connections I also had fruitful talks with my informants on the island regarding their version of the second psychosabbato which I attended in Athens the first year and on Tinos the last year, since I find it useful to compare the rituals in a metropolitan city with those being celebrated in a rural community. The same regards, the other psychosabbata which I have tried to attend both places. I spent the Orthodox Easter on Tinos in 2012, since several rituals during Easter are especially interesting for my project, particularly the decoration of the Epitaphios (Christ funeral) and performance of the Epitaphios Threnos by the women, and following procession with the Epitaphios, and also the rituals taking place at the cemetery and ossuary (where the bones are placed after the exhumation) outside of Tinos town on Good Friday. Here is also an interesting ritual during the psychosabbato in June which I attended in 2012. The event is celebrated 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ, i.e. on Saturday before Whitsunday. The celebration on Tinos was particularly interesting to compare with my field research in Athens on the same event the previous year. During the first part of the Orthodox Easter 2013, which was also the final days of my project period, I also visited the monastery, Metoche tou Panagiou Taphou (Anaphiotika) in Athens, to compare with my fieldwork on Tinos in 2012. The book manuscript: After the introductory chapter (Chapter 1), the main festivals I have attended, are described in detail in Chapter 2 (the Fieldwork Chapter) of the manuscript, while the burials and memorials are presented in Chapters 4 (Laments and burials) and 5 (Tombs and gifts) respectively, and compared with ancient material. The other chapters are dealing with the following themes: - Chapter 3: The cult of the saints, heroes / heroines and other exceptional deceased - Chapter 6: Cult of the bones - Chapter 7: Cult of the deceased mediators Chapter 8: Communication between the living and the dead. Since the project questions the ways in which history has been written through the ages in order to supplement a male with a female perspective, the conclusion delves further into ways of writing history from a male versus alternative female perspective in general and from the margin of Europe in particular. I apply my theoretical female approach throughout the MS, as described in detail in the project description (particularly pp. 3 - 8), and accordingly the project contributes with comparative and innovative knowledge and empirical data on Greek women and death. By drawing on a methodology in which I use modern fieldwork results in conjunction with ancient sources, I analyse both the social meaning of the death cult as well as the roles of men and women in the death-rituals, and accordingly investigate the relationship between the domestic or female sphere and the official or male sphere. Thus, this project offers a new contribution to earlier presentations of the Greek 'reality', but mainly from the female perspective, which is significant since men produced most of the ancient sources, and their values were reproduced by later scholars. Hence, by bringing ancient and modern worlds into mutual illumination, the project has relevance beyond the Greek context both in time and space. From a scholarly point of view, the project has an approach of great importance for the study of ancient and modern Greek culture, comparative cultural studies and women and gender research both in a South East European, but also a global perspective. However, I also aim to reach the non-scientific milieu, which is also interested in Greek culture, ancient and modern. In a broader perspective and in connection with my own north European background, I can mention some of the results from Norwegian tourism in Greece and immigration groups in Norway finding parallels with their own cultural heritage, often from the Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Balkan World. But, Greeks are also interested in my work; they want to learn how others see them, as well as their ancient forerunners. Contact details: Dr Evy Johanne Håland: evyhaa@online.no List of websites: http://en.arch.uoa.gr/research/programmes/e-j-haalands-project.html http:/www.arch.uoa.gr/ereyna/ereynhtika-programmata/e-j-haalands-project.html Related documents Final Report - GREEK WOMEN - DEATH (Greek women and death, ancient and modern: a comparative analysis)
