Rebetiko Tragoudi as a Generic Term

Stathis Gauntlett

doi:10.1179/030701382790206642

Rebetiko Tragoudi as a Generic Term

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2016

Stathis Gauntlett

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Stathis Gauntlett*: Affiliation:
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The wretched underworld… does not fail to have its songs and these are — for Greece — the rebetika.

Rebetis doesn’t mean underworld, nor is the rebetiko its song.

Contradictory statements such as the above are characteristic of the controversy which has surrounded the song tradition loosely called ‘rebetiko’, since it first became a cultural thème du jour in Greece in the late 1940s.

Type: Research Article
Information: Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 8 , 1983 , pp. 77 - 102

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/030701382790206642 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 1983

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References

1. Skouriotis, G., I (1957), 64 Google Scholar.

2. Schorelis, T. & Economidis, M., (Athens, 1973), p. 3 Google Scholar.

3. Some of the earliest documents from the debate have been reprinted in Holst, G., (Athens, 1977), pp. 139–55 Google Scholar.

4. Petropoulos claims to have chosen from thousands of and appears satisfied that his anthology contains (ibid., p. 45). In addition to popular songs, the anthology contains metrical correspondence, metrical funeral eulogies, political anthems, and marching songs.

5. Schorelis, T., 4 vols. (Athens, 1977-80)Google Scholar. This anthology is structured around individual exponents and composers without generic distinctions; thus a rural brigand-song is to be found among Roukounas’ compositions (ibid., III, p. 233).

6. 1925–55 (EMIAL 2J048–70364/5/6 & 70378/79/80), six L.P. records of various types of popular song, re-recorded from early 78 r.p.m. discs.

7. The sources of the quotations are as follows: A. Paridis in L. Zenakos, “Eva 835 (10 April 1970), 54. Y. Tsarouchis in E. Petropoulos, op. cit., 2nd ed., p. 259. V. Papadimitriou, 1–2 (1949), 48. E. Petropoulos, op. cit., 2nd ed., p. 32.

8. V. Papadimitriou, op. cit., p. 49; Theodorakis, M., 2nd ed. (Athens, 1974), p. 165 Google Scholar; G. Skouriotis, op. cit., p. 64; A. Xenos in G. Holst, op. cit., p. 142 and in M. Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 216; L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 56; Kapetanakis, V., 2nd ed. (Athens, 1962), p. 122 Google Scholar.

9. Schorelis, T. & Economidis, M., op. cit., p. 3 and “Evaç K. (Athens, 1974), pp. 6–7 Google Scholar; Hatzidakis, M., III (1949), 460–1 Google Scholar; Christianopoulos, D., (Thessaloniki, 1961), p. 2 Google Scholar.

10. Petropoulos, E. in Butterworth, K. & Schneider, S., Rebetika, Songs from the old Greek Underworld (Athens, 1975), p. 11 Google Scholar; Zakhos, E., Poésie Populaire des Grecs (Paris, 1966), p. 54 Google Scholar; E. Macheras, (Summer 1964), 40; Y. Papaioannou, ‘H ’73 (1973), 282, 291, 293; G. Holst, op. cit., p. 33; Damianakos, S., (Athens, 1976), pp. 48, 136–8 Google Scholar.

11. The amount of commercial development placed within the scope of the term rebetiko by each of the critics can be ascertained from footnotes 16 & 17 below.

12. Y. Papaioannou, op. cit., p. 292.

13. E. Petropoulos. (4 October 1961); L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 55; T. Vournas. 76 (1961), 277; E. Macheras, op. cit., p. 95; F. Anoyianakis. 79 (1961), 13; G. Holst, op. cit., p. 70.

14. T. Vournas, op. cit., p. 283; E. Petropoulos in K. Butterworth & S. Schneider, op. cit., p. 11; P. & V. Kounadis, 5 (October 1974), 17. In the last article the origins of the ‘mainland-Greek school of the rebetiko’ are set at c. 1850, whilst the ‘Asia Minor school’ is claimed to have much earlier origins.

15. Petropoulos, E., Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed. (Athens, 1968), p. 11 Google Scholar; L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 56; M. Dragoumis in K. Butterworth & S. Schneider, op. cit., p. 17; G. Holst, op. cit., p. 23; S. Damianakos, op. cit., pp. 13, 53.

16. M. Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 45; G. Skouriotis, op. cit., p. 64; E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., pp. 33, 94; L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 56; S. Damianakos, op. cit., pp. 138, 219, 237–43.

17. D. Christianopoulos, op. cit., p. 4; M. Avyeris in M. Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 210; T. Vournas, op. cit., p. 285; F. Anoyianakis, op. cit., p. 13; E. Macheras, op. cit., p. 95 note 2; G. Spyridakis in L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 54; Y. Papaioannou, op. cit., p. 291 et passim; G. Holst, op. cit., p. 71.

18. In the course of field-work in 1971–2 I ascertained that exponents of rebetiko readily agree that the genre has been corrupted, but insist that their own recent compositions are pure rebetika. Cf. T. Schorelis & M. Economidis, K. Roukounas, p. 46.

19. G. Skouriotis, op. cit., p. 64; M. Dragoumis, ’73 (1973), 267; T. Vournas, op. cit., p. 283. The last critic claims that the rebetiko originally functioned like folk song, without specifically classifying it as such; this is also the practice of M. Avyeris (in M. Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 210), T. Schorelis & M. Economidis (K. Roukounas, p. 3), G. Holst (op. cit., p. 23) and S. Damianakos, (op. cit., pp. 50, 64).

20. F. Anoyianakis, op. cit., p. 13; G. Megas in L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 54; Y. Papaioannou, op. cit., p. 283.

21. E. Zakhos, op. cit., p. 56; Friar, K., Modern Greek Poetry (New York, 1973), pp. 9–10 Google Scholar; Mestheneos, F. in Mouflouzelis, G., (Athens, 1979), p. 202 Google Scholar.

22. A. Lavras, V (1950), 213. Cf. A. Xenos in M. Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 216.

23. ‘Real’: V. Papadimitriou, op. cit., pp. 48–9. ‘Genuine’: E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., p. 25; L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 53. ‘Classic’: A. Xenos in M. Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 216. ‘Old’: M. Theodorakis, ibid., p. 165. ‘Orthodox’: Y. Papaioannou, op. cit., pp. 291–3.

24. ‘Pseudorebetiko’’: K. Tachtsis in E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 2nd ed., p. 259. ‘Aristocratic’: L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 53. ‘Stereotyped’: V. Papadimitriou, op. cit., p. 48. ‘Rebeto-geneous’: E. Petropoulos, Oi (cover-notes for the L.P. gramophone record: M. Plessas & G. Kalamariotis, (Polydor 242.1053)). ‘Cheap’, ‘commercial’: Y. Papaioannou, op. cit., pp. 291–3.

25. Christianopoulos, D., (1947-68), 2 (1979), 206 Google Scholar.

26. Attestations for all the terms mentioned in this paragraph follow. Mangika: see in E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., p. 161; K. Sofoulis, 20 (Aug. 1956), 153; L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 55. Mortika: T. Schorelis & M. Economidis, G. Rovertakis, p. 11. The term is also applied to the song in ms. 88 of the E. Petropoulos Archive, Gennadius Library, Athens. Seretika: V. Kapetanakis, op. cit., p. 131; Karagatsis, M., 3rd ed. (Athens, n.d.), p. 191 Google Scholar; Apostolidis, R., 67 (Athens, 1950), p. 41 Google Scholar. Tsachpinika: This term is applied to the song (see E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., p. 384) in pamphlet 1395 of the E. Petropoulos Archive, Gennadius Library, Athens. On the connotations of the term, see. Ronzevalle, L., Les Emprunts Turcs dans le Grec Vulgaire de Roumélie et spécialement d’ Adrianople (Paris, 1912), p. 72 Google Scholar: = gamin, polisson, debauché’. Karipika: Varnalis, K., ‘H (1931), (Athens, 1974), p. 57 Google Scholar. On the connotations of the noun karipis, see E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., p. 101. Vlamika: V. Papadimitriou, op. cit., p. 50. Koutsavakika: Papadiamantis, A., (1900), ed. Valetas, G., III (Athens, 1971), p. 543 Google Scholar. Mourmourika: This term is strongly favoured by E. Petropoulos in the second edition of Rebetika Tragoudia, especially in describing prison songs of the oral tradition. The adjective is clearly derived from the noun mourmouris (= pallikaras according to V. Kapetanakis, op. cit., p. 83 and Dagitsis, K., (Athens, 1967), p. 95)Google Scholar, and possibly also the synonymous Smyrnaic word mourmourismenos (see Solomonidis, Ch., (Athens, 1966), p. 125 Google Scholar). It is applied to a type of song in the verses of the song (E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 2nd ed. p. 205). Hasiklidika: M. Karagatsis, op. cit., p. 191; Vamvakaris, M., ed. Kail, A. (Athens, 1973), pp. 208–9 Google Scholar. Pikros, P., (Athens, 1922), p. 88 Google Scholar; Schorelis, T. & Economidis, M., G. Rovertakis, p. 11 Google Scholar. Kondylakis, I., (1894), (Athens, 1964), p. 155 Google Scholar. P. Pikros, (17 April 1926).

27. Perpiniadis, S. in Chatzidoulis, K., I (Athens, n.d.), p. 24 Google Scholar.

28. Thus: — Columbia (England) 11656:20569.

M. — Columbia (England) 11815.

M. — Columbia (U.S.A.) 56113F: 205929.

M. Columbia (U.S.A.) 56137F: 206147.

— His Master’s Voice/Victor (U.S.A.) 7–68980B.

The labels of the third and fourth gramophone-records listed are endorsed ‘Made and patented 1913’, and yet the fourth is further inscribed with the phrase ‘Electric Process’ which indicates a terminus post quem of 1925 for its recording. The matrix and catalogue numbers of the remainder and the identity of the performing artists in some instances, lead me to believe that all the records listed above date from the third decade of this century.

29. The fourth gramophone-record listed at footnote 28 bears a song which could be classified as traditional underworld-song performed in the relatively primitive ‘Piraeus style’. The remainder preserve erotic songs (of which the third and fifth are traditional) performed in a variety of styles and voices, ranging from the uncultivated ‘Piraeus voice’ (the fifth) to a café-chantant soprano (the second and third) and an italianate serenade-choir (the first).

30. Listed under the heading in His Master’s Voice Catalogue of Greek Records for 1935 (Athens, 1935).

31. Compare the Columbia Catalogue of Greek Records for 1936 (Athens, 1936) with that for 1940.

32. Titles of recently issued gramophone-records illustrate this: e.g. ‘The genuine rebetika of Roza Eskenazi’ (Vergis 45–1171); ‘The good old rebetiko of Kyriazis’ (Zodiac); ‘A. Kaldaras — for rebetes and friends’ (Minos).

33. ‘Because “rebetis” and “rebetiko” are the sort of word that you can very easily interpret in any way you like. And when I say “in any way you like”, I mean, of course, in a bad way…’. (S. Perpiniadis in K. Chatzidoulis, op. cit., p. 24). On the semantic duplicity of see Dimitrakos, D., IX (Athens, 1964), p. 4426 Google Scholar; Crighton, W., (Athens, n.d.), p. 910 Google Scholar; Kapetanakis, V., op. cit., p. 72 Google Scholar; Dagitsis, K., op. cit., p. 89 Google Scholar; Petropoulos, E., Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., p. 102 Google Scholar; Koltsidas, A., (Thessaloniki, 1978), p. 126 Google Scholar; Zakhos, E., (Athens, 1981), p. 300 Google Scholar.

34. D. Dimitrakos, op. cit., XII, p. 6401; W. Crighton, op. cit., p. 1337; V. Kapetanakis, op. cit., p. 121; K. Dagitsis, op. cit., p. 118; E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., pp. 14, 106; A. Koltsidas, op. cit., p. 175; E. Zakhos, op. cit., p. 426.

35. Terzakis, A., (1937), 6th ed. (Athens, n.d.), p. 139 Google Scholar; Seferis, G., ’41 (Athens, 1972), p. 19 Google Scholar; Kazantzakis, N., ‘O (1954) (Athens, n.d.), p. 305 Google Scholar.

36. Theotokas, G., ‘O XXX (1941), 714 Google Scholar. Tachtsis, K., ‘O ’45, ‘H (Athens, 1979), p. 49 Google Scholar.

37. Pikros, P., (Athens, 1925), pp. 98–9 Google Scholar.

38. Spandonis, N., ‘H (Athens, 1893)Google Scholar; Kondylakis, I., (Athens, 1894)Google Scholar; Pasayiannis, K., (Athens, 1898)Google Scholar; Papadiamantis, A., in ed. Valetas, G., III (Athens, 1972)Google Scholar.

39. Schorelis, T. & Economidis, M., (Athens, 1973)Google Scholar and (Athens, 1974). Cf. Gavriel, M. in Schorelis, T., Rebetiki Anthologia I, p. 249 Google Scholar: ‘“Rebetis” and “bad man” are two different things’ and G. Mouflouzelis, op. cit., p. 202: ‘A rebetis is a good man — a bit wicked to himself’.

40. A. Theophilou, cover notes for the L.P. record (Minos ST MSM 148).

41. The sources of the numbered examples in this article are as follows: (1) Schorelis, T., Rebetiki Anthologia, I, p. 244 Google Scholar. (2) Ibid., II, p. 85. (3) Ibid., I, p. 228. (4) Gauntlett, E., To Rebetiko Tragoudi (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Oxford, 1978), p. 476 Google Scholar (C104). (5) Petropoulos, E., Rebetika Tragoudia, 1st ed., p. 186 Google Scholar. (6) Ibid., p. 162. (7) Ibid., p. 242. (8) T. Schorelis, op. cit., I, p. 267. (9) Ibid., II, p. 356. (10) E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia, 2nd ed., p. 197. Tommaseo, N., Canti Popolari Toscani, Corsi, Illirici, Greci, IV (Venice, 1842)Google Scholar. (12) Aravantinos, P., (Athens, 1880), p. 370 Google Scholar. (13) Triandafyllidis, M., II (Thessaloniki, 1963), p. 307 Google Scholar. (14) Petropoulos, E., Rebetika Tragoudia, 2nd ed., p. 133 Google Scholar. (15) T. Schorelis, op. cit., I, p. 121. (16) E. Petropoulos, op. cit., 2nd ed., p. 17. (17) T. Schorelis, op. cit., II, p. 53. (18) E. Petropoulos, op. cit., 2nd ed., p. 170. (19) M. Vamvakaris, op. cit., p. 141. (20) T. Schorelis, op. cit., III, p. 53. (21) Ibid., I, p. 213. (22) I. Ritsiardi-Sylviou, M. Thomakos & Chr. Efthimiadou, Columbia DG 6014 (78 r.p.m. gramophone record). (23) K. Chatzidoulis, — ‘H (Athens, 1979), p. 218. (24) T. Schorelis, op. cit., II, p. 88. (25) E. Petropoulos, op. cit., 2nd ed., p. 196. (26) Y. Kalamariotis & M. Plessas, from the L.P. record Polydor 242, 1053, side A, track 2.

42. Cf. in E. Gauntlett, op. cit., p. 466 (C79).

43. Lang, E. W., Arabic-English Lexicon (Edinburgh, 1867)Google Scholar: rebet = ‘to a rear a child’. Maretic, T., Rjecnik Hvratskoga ili Srpskoga Jezika XIII (Zagreb, n.d.)Google Scholar: rebet (found in Glagolic Missal) = ‘dorsum’. Tanfani, Trinchera, et al., Vocabulario della Lingua Epirotica-Italiana (Rome, 1875)Google Scholar: rebet= haughty or sullen facial expression. Mann, S. E., An Historical Albanian-English Dictionary (London, 1948)Google Scholar: rebet = ‘terrible, awful, sudden, drastic, violent’. Wahby, T. & Richards, C. J., A Kurdish-English Dictionary (Oxford, 1966)Google Scholar: rebet = ‘a screened stand (shooting)’.

44. (§ 297), Bibliotheca Graeca Medii Aevi, ed. K. Sathas, VI (Paris, 1877), pp. 241, 492. DuCange, Cf., Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et Infimae Graecatis (Lyons, 1688), p. 1289 Google Scholar.

45. Redhouse, J., A Turkish and English Dictionary (Constantinople, 1921), p. 835.Google Scholar

46. Škaljić, A., Turcizmi u Srpskohrvatskom Jeziku (Sarajevo, 1965).Google Scholar

47. Sandik > is an isolated example of the change from Turkish a to Greek ε if one discounts the possibility of direct derivation from A. Maidhof (‘Rückwanderer aus den islamitischen Sprachen in Neugriechischen (Smyrna und Umgebung)’, Glotta, X (1920), 17f) claims that the Modern Greek word is derived from the Turkish and, ultimately, Arabic or Persian.

48. Dawkins, R. M., Modem Greek in Asia Minor (Cambridge, 1916), p. 673 Google Scholar. Both hārābati and are derived from the Arabic kharāb (pl. kharābāt) = ‘ruins’.

49. T. Vournas, op. cit., p. 282. The closest I have come to finding an attestation for rebet asker is in Bogas, E., I (Ioannina, 1964), p. 325 Google Scholar.

50. Andriotis, N. P., 2nd ed. (Thessaloniki, 1967), p. 308 Google Scholar. Cf. A. Koltsidas, op. cit., p. 175.

51. = ‘wander’, A Patristic Greek Lexicon ed. G. W. H. Lampe (Oxford, 1968), p. 1215; ‘to go about’, Sophocles, E. A., A Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods 146B.C.-1100 A.D. (New York, 1887), p. 968 Google Scholar; ‘circumdo, vagor, fluctuo’, Thesaurus Graeciae Linguae ed. H. Stephanus (Paris, 1842–7), p. 2359. = 1. roam about 2. enjoy 3. boast, brag, D. Dimitrakos, op. cit., XII, p. 6401 — cf. Xanthoudidis’ glossary in V. Kornaros, ed. S. Xanthoudidis (Heraklion, 1915), p. 628. = be idle, laze, M. G. Michaelidis — Nouaros, (Athens, 1972) — cf.Andriotis, N., Lexikon der Archaismen in Neugriechischen Dialekten (Vienna, 1974), p. 477 Google Scholar (item 5203), where the currency of this verb in the dialects of various Aegean islands and Thrace is noted (= ‘unstet sein, unüberlegt handeln’), together with the variant forms (Pontus) and (Macedonia) (= ‘in Freiheit leben, faulenzen’). = ‘roaming, gad-about’, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, p. 1215; ‘vagabond’, D. Skarlatos, (Athens, 1839), p. 1116. = ‘street-woman’, E. A. Sophocles, op. cit., p. 968. = DuCange, op. cit., p. 1289.

52. M. Theodorakis, op. cit., p. 237; Orfinos, P., 17 (1956), 432 Google Scholar; Christianopoulos, D., (Thessaloniki, 1961), p. 4 Google Scholar. In my experience, this is also the main difference between demotiko and laiko perceived by exponents of rebetika.

53. As late as 1978 Professor Kyriakidou-Nestoros, A. (Athens, 1978), p. 17 Google Scholar) noted that the work of Milman Parry and A. B. Lord had made no impression on the analysis of Modern Greek folk song. This deficiency has since been remedied by Beaton, R., Folk Poetry of Modern Greece (Cambridge, 1980).CrossRef Google Scholar

54. See Lloydd, A. L., Folk Song in England, 2nd ed. (London, 1975), pp. 11–32 Google Scholar; Finnegan, R., Oral Poetry, its Nature, Significance and Social Context (Cambridge, 1977).Google Scholar

55. Cf. S. Damianakos, op. cit., pp. 71–7, and in the context of nineteenth-century England, Chesney, K., The Victorian Underworld (Harmondsworth, 1972), pp. 32, 124.Google Scholar

56. Legislation specifically restricting the cultivation, trafficking and use of cannabis in Greece dates from 11/24 March 1920 (Act 2107), but a measure of the inefficacy of its enforcement is the fact that songs extolling and exhorting its use circulated freely on gramophone-records until 1936.

57. Mitsakis, M., (1890) in ed. Peranthis, M. (Athens, 1956), p. 182 Google Scholar.

58. Yiannakis Ioannidis and Manolis Karapiperis (bouzouki), Columbia 56137-F, 206148.

59. The evolution of the rebetiko is conventionally divided into the following periods (after E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., p. 26): ‘Smyrnaic’ (1922–32), ‘Classical’ (1932–40), ‘Laiko’ (1940–52), ‘Archondo-rebetiko’ (post-1952).

60. An indication of the degree of authenticity of the expression in these verses is contained in a remark made to me in an interview of 3 January 1977, by Michalis Yenitsaris, who performed the song on the gramophone record mentioned above: ‘Aren’t those words something like katharevousa?’.

61. See ed. Th. Chatzipantazis & L. Maraka (Athens, 1977), pp. 127, 469.

62. L. Zenakos, op. cit., p. 54f. — cf. ‘chansons-bouzouki’ or merely ‘bouzoukis’ in E. Zakhos, Poésie Populaire des Grecs, pp. 53–60. Stratou, D., Greek Dances, Our Link with Antiquity (Athens, 1966), p. 40 Google Scholar; Romeos, K., (Athens, n.d.), pp. 302–3 Google Scholar; Y. Papaioannou, op. cit., p. 284; K. Tachtsis, op. cit., pp. 12–3.

63. Recent examples of this trend include and ‘O E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 2nd ed., pp. 199, 175.

64. S. Damianakos, op. cit., p. 206. The song “Evav (E. Petropoulos, Rebetika Tragoudia 1st ed., p. 229) was recorded by the comedian Petros Kyriakos (Standard S603B).

65. See E. Gauntlett, op. cit., pp. 48–195.

66. An extensive list of identical and resemblant verses is given in E. Gauntlett, ibid., pp. 196–201.

67. This perception of the evolution of the performance of the rebetiko, which conflicts at a number of points with the standard account outlined in footnote 59 above, is documented in E. Gauntlett, ibid., pp. 237–357.

68. Valuable information on the history of the recorded-sound industry in Greece is to be found in T. Schorelis & M. Economidis, K. Roukounas, p. 18ff. Roukounas himself provides a vivid eye-witness account of the intense competition between rival composers/exponents of rebetika in the early 1930s (ibid., p. 35).

69. On Greek and Turkish musical cafés see Mazaraki, D., (Athens, 1956), p. 49ff Google Scholar., and Stasinopoulos, E., ‘H 1830–1900 (Athens, 1963), pp. 117–124 Google Scholar. On the relative status of kafe-aman and café chantant see Pikros, P., (Athens, 1925), p. 63 Google Scholar.