Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GRIDAMUS (Greek Identity in Art Music since the Early Nineteenth Century: Towards an Interdisciplinary Methodology)
Reporting period: 2018-01-10 to 2020-01-09
Levidou has compiled a comprehensive bibliography in consultation with the project’s mentors and colleagues beyond the host institution (King’s College London). Under the guidance of specialists from King’s College, she also developed a methodological framework that draws on historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and Modern Greek Studies. Data collection was carried out through analysis of textual sources, archival research, and ethnographical fieldwork. Thus, the project has resulted into a vast corpus of data that has fed into outputs for dissemination, but that will also continue to support further research and publications beyond the end of the fellowship.
Dissemination activities included: a) the organisation of an international interdisciplinary workshop at King’s College London on 9 May 2019; b) a series of five public lectures delivered in Greece (Athens, Thessaloniki, and Kardamyli); c) paper presentations at two international conferences; and c) publication of the research results in the form of: i) one chapter in a forthcoming volume of essays coming out of a conference; ii) one chapter in a forthcoming collection of essays; iii) a forthcoming monograph (in English) to be published with a prestigious international publishing house; and iv) a monograph (in Greek) to be published by a Greek publishing house. One of the public lectures that Levidou delivered in Greece was broadcast live, while two more were filmed and can be watched by anyone interested (one online, and the other one in the Lilian Voudouri Music Library in Athens). Levidou will also deliver a lecture at a Greek university after the end of the fellowship. Additionally, on 26 October 2018 she contributed an ‘Introduction to Modern Greek History’ (which has been informed by the literature review produced in the context of the GRIDAMUS project) to the ‘United Arab Emirates – Greece Cultural Week’, which was organised by Zayed University and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, attended by representatives (staff members and students) of Zayed University. Thus, overall, Levidou has reached a vast international audience including specialists, students, and lay people.
Levidou has also undertaken a number of activities relating to training, knowledge transfer, and career development. These have included training on handling ethical issues in research that involves human subjects, received through King’s College London, as well as numerous career development seminars taken at the host institution and through an online career-development platform to which King’s College London subscribes. Knowledge transfer has been achieved primarily through mentoring received from the project’s supervisors, Prof. Roderick Beaton and Prof. Gonda Van Steen, as well as Prof. Martin Stokes. Additionally, knowledge was transmitted to King’s College through Levidou’s presence and, particularly, the organisation of the international, interdisciplinary workshop, which triggered lively discussions and follow up. The fellowship has also considerably improved Levidou’s networking skills and networking opportunities both within and outside King’s College London (in the UK as well as in Greece, significantly both within and beyond academia) resulting in her recognition as one of the leading experts in the study of Greek art music. This achievement has been confirmed by the invitations that Levidou has received to contribute chapters in forthcoming publications, as well as by the invitation to act as an external examiner of a doctoral candidate at a prestigious UK university. Levidou’s research has also generated two job applications for research grants on two distinct topics relating to Greek art music.
GRIDAMUS is an important contribution to scientific enquiries that have challenged the understanding of national identity and, more generally, Greek identity as a monolithic and atemporal entity. In the context of the upsurge of nationalism that Europe – including Greece – has seen in recent years, analysing cultural (including musical) mediations of national identity, with a focus on ‘relativizing’ national identity, can help to counter such nationalist expressions. Hence, although recent epistemological perspectives have been encouraging a move away from studies of the ‘national’ towards trans-cultural approaches, we can claim that focusing on cultural/musical expressions of the ‘national’ is still relevant and useful.