What is it about?
Vasilaros (1899–1979), a moderately educated Greek shadow-theatre puppeteer, adapted popular melodramas and novels with strong bourgeois morality, such as Οι δύο λοχίαι in 1931, Η άγνωστος in 1937, Αι δύο ορφαναί in 1944, and Οι άθλιοι in 1955. The adaptations indicate that by the mid-1930s, the borderline between the traditional oral art of shadow theatre and mainstream culture had become considerably blurred.
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Why is it important?
Karaghiozis is a form of shadow theatre denoting strong Hellenic identity. It originated from the Ottoman Karagöz. The transformation of the ottoman ancestor into a popular Hellenic symbol took place in Hellenic cities (especially those of Athens and Patras) at the end of the 19th century. The assimilation was achieved through the creation of various stock characters (around 8-10) who embody regional or class types of Hellenes, nd through the representation of national and regional manners.
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This page is a summary of: Traditional oral theatre meets popular middle-class melodrama: the Greek shadow-theatre puppeteer Vasilaros1, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, March 2015, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1179/0307013114z.00000000056.
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Resources
The Mountain-Bandits of the Hellenic Shadow Theatre of Karaghiozis: Criminals or Heroes?
From the time of the legendary mountain bandit Davelis in the 1850s (and even earlier, almost since the foundation of modern Hellenic state in 1828), the fate of modern Hellenic State has been marked either by a weakness to meet with the citizens’ expectations or, in order to quieten subsequent reactions, by a series of oppressive measures (even dictatorships). This policy would unavoidably instigate some kind of aggressive retaliation in the form of banditry.
REPERTORY OF GREEK SHADOW THEATRE [KARAGIOZIS] IN PATRA IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD (1922-1940)
Project description related to Karaghiozis
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