Online: Anar Dana hosts talk on Greek Rebetika (Feb. 15)
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Dina Trageser
Feb 12, 2026, 6:20:59 AM (11 days ago) Feb 12
to Northwest Balkan Events
Sunday, Feb. 15
9 AM Pacific Time
Register online at https://helene-eriksen.weebly.com/
Join ANAR DANA as we continue to explore 3 cultures and their changing national experiences and identities following the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
February 15th, 2026 we will continue with the the Greek-Turkish population exchange following WWI and the emergence of the Greek musical style Rebetiko.
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens rebetiko was used as a symbol of the Greek cultural heritage, but not long ago, it was scorned distained by Greek nationalists, official state ideologues, as well as Leftists, who all thought that it was a filthy product of the underworld and an undesirable Anatolian remnant from the Ottoman Empire. Rebetiko is one of several musical styles (such as tango, fado, and flamenco) that were despised by local elites but later became symbols of national culture. Rebetiko is an intercultural musical genre with musical elements of the multicultural cosmopolitan urban traditions of Turks, Greeks, Armenians and other peoples of Ottoman cities and rural Asia Minor as well as from Europe. Originally rebetiko was associated with marginalized people in brothels, tekedhes (hashish dens), and café-amans in the urban centers of Asia Minor (mainly in Constantinople and Smyrna) and the sea ports of Greece. The lyrics talked about love, pain, sorrow, and hedonism, and was colored by slang. Today rebetiko is a national symbol and mainstream music that also attracts foreign tourists, scholars, students and bohemians to bouzouki taverns. The attitudes of Greeks to their popular music reflect the country’s position between Orient and Occident, eastern Orthodox Christianity and the European secular tradition, or between Asia Minor and Europe.
9 AM Pacific Time
Register online at https://helene-eriksen.weebly.com/
Join ANAR DANA as we continue to explore 3 cultures and their changing national experiences and identities following the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
February 15th, 2026 we will continue with the the Greek-Turkish population exchange following WWI and the emergence of the Greek musical style Rebetiko.
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens rebetiko was used as a symbol of the Greek cultural heritage, but not long ago, it was scorned distained by Greek nationalists, official state ideologues, as well as Leftists, who all thought that it was a filthy product of the underworld and an undesirable Anatolian remnant from the Ottoman Empire. Rebetiko is one of several musical styles (such as tango, fado, and flamenco) that were despised by local elites but later became symbols of national culture. Rebetiko is an intercultural musical genre with musical elements of the multicultural cosmopolitan urban traditions of Turks, Greeks, Armenians and other peoples of Ottoman cities and rural Asia Minor as well as from Europe. Originally rebetiko was associated with marginalized people in brothels, tekedhes (hashish dens), and café-amans in the urban centers of Asia Minor (mainly in Constantinople and Smyrna) and the sea ports of Greece. The lyrics talked about love, pain, sorrow, and hedonism, and was colored by slang. Today rebetiko is a national symbol and mainstream music that also attracts foreign tourists, scholars, students and bohemians to bouzouki taverns. The attitudes of Greeks to their popular music reflect the country’s position between Orient and Occident, eastern Orthodox Christianity and the European secular tradition, or between Asia Minor and Europe.
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