[MGSA-L] Princeton Hellenic Studies Lecture: October 25, 2011

[Dimitri H. Gondicas]

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Hellenic Studies

Lecture


Sacred Music and the Greek Orthodox

of Constantinople in the Nineteenth Century:

The Elite, the Cantors, and the Patriarchate





Merih Erol

merol at princeton.edu<mailto:merol at princeton.edu>

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Hellenic Studies



Modern debates concerning the reform of the liturgical music of the Greek Orthodox Church have not yet been subjected to a proper historical analysis which engages a multi-layered investigation of the contemporary social, political, and aesthetic discourses. This talk will demonstrate how the "musical issue" intersected with certain social discourses on the poor and the dangerous, the anxiety about the fragmentation of the Orthodox Church and community, and fear of humiliation of the nation by outsiders. The presentation will focus on the texts produced by the literate members of the Greek Orthodox community of Constantinople sometime between the 1860s and 1880s: tracts by various professionals, such as journalists, bankers, doctors, and those written by church cantors, as well as encyclicals issued by the 'head of the nation,' the Patriarch, and some patriarchal correspondence.



Merih Erol received her B.S. in Electric and Electronics Engineering, her M.A. in Sociology and her Ph.D. (2009) in History from Bogazici University, Istanbul. Her dissertation on "Cultural Identifications of the Greek Orthodox Elite of Constantinople: Discourse on Music in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries" investigated the relationships between musical discourse, identity formation, and the politics of power in the Greek Orthodox community of Constantinople in the nineteenth century. As a post-doctoral research fellow (2010-11) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Program for the History of Emotions, she expanded her research interests into the social and cultural study of religion, and particularly into the study of religious ethics. She now embarks on a new research project in which she attempts to examine the formation of pious and ethical "subjects" in nineteenth century Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Her project will explore issues of belief, discourses on religious experience and emotions, and controversies over worship practices within the Greek Orthodox populations.



Tuesday, October 25, 2011

4:30 p.m.

Scheide Caldwell House, Room 103
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