Universiteit van Amsterdam
Graduate School for Humanities
Music, Image, and Identity: Rebetiko and Greek National Identity
Alexia Kallergi Panopoulou
Student number: 11655631
MA Thesis in European Studies, Identity and Integration track
Name of supervisor: Dr. Krisztina Lajosi-Moore
Name of second reader: Prof. dr. Joep Leerssen
Table of Contents
Introduction ... 4
Chapter 1 ... 6
1.1 Theory and Methodology ... 6
Chapter 2. ... 11
2.1 The history of Rebetiko ... 11
2.1.1 Kleftiko songs: Klephts and Armatoloi ... 11
2.1.2 The Period of the Klephts Song ... 15
2.2 Rebetiko Songs... 18
2.3 Rebetiko periods ... 22
Chapter 3 ... 29
3.1 Musical instruments and Identity ... 29
3.2 Rebetiko and Gender ... 35
3.3 The audience ... 38
Chapter 4 ... 41
4.1 The politics ... 41
4.2 Rebetiko in America ... 45
4.3 The contribution of Manos Hadjidakis ... 48
4.4 The contribution of Mikis Theodorakis ... 52
4.5 Zorba the Greek ... 54
4.6 The Rebetiko Movie ... 56
4.7 Rebetiko in UNESCO ... 58
Conclusion ... 62
Introduction
Rebetiko is a musical genre well known to the Greek public. The same may apply to a large part of the population in the Western world, either through Greek immigrants or the movie Zorba the Greek.
This musical genre that has been active in the musical reality from the beginning of the newly established Greek state to the present day is part of the official Greek music and national identity. However, since 2017 it is part of the cultural heritage of UNESCO. How is a musical genre that is not part of the official Greek national identity to be on the cultural heritage map? What is Rebetiko, how does it evolve and is represented at a political level and on what factors? These are some of the critical questions that have led to this research.
Initially, some basic concepts, such as the national identity, are highlighted to elicit the axes studied at both international and local scale. What is the relationship between Greece and Western identity? Are there any problematic concepts that might consist the Greek national identity?
Afterward, reference is made to Rebetiko as a musical genre. The historical evolution and connection of the genre with Klepht's music, a revolutionary musical genre that begins with the Greek Revolution and the founding of the Greek state, is mentioned. Additionally, the evolution of the musical genre and its correlation with Rebetiko music is outlined. Lastly, the revolutionary identity and the association of the genre with the Greek identity and the West are mentioned.
Moreover, it is related to the social character of the Rebetiko era, and its evolution is studied socially in the long run. How static is this piece of music? Are there elements to which are being expressed through Greek society and everyday life? The documentation of these elements is portrayed through the historical evolution of the use of musical instruments, the correlation and the interaction with the audience and the racial differences of representation of the genre.
This is followed by the political association of the genre and the documentation of the dispute over the integration of the genre into the formal or informal music and national identity of Greece. It refers to the evolution of the genre and its expression outside the national borders either by the Greek immigrants or by scholars that have contributed to the
formation of the national identity. Significant reference is also the rebirth of Rebetiko in other art forms, thus notifying the existence of the genre, without identifying Rebetiko's inclusion or not in official national identity.
Finally, there is conclusion, which summarizes the arguments and the historical developments concerning the political and social factor. The possibility of integrating Rebetiko into the official national identity following the inclusion of the genre in UNESCO is identified, while the limitations of this procedure are stated.
Chapter 1
1.1 Theory and Methodology
This paper aims to study the Greek cultural identity through the Rebetiko music scene. The image of bourgeois culture, and in particular the working class, as expressed through Rebetiko, a musical genre that has been expressed since the middle of the 19th century in Greece until today, is to be studied. Which images of Greek identity find expression in Klepht songs and Rebetiko genre? In what ways do musical practices question and complement the official political narratives of Greek nationhood? The thesis aims to explore the tension between 1) a top-down construction of Greek national identity and 2) a bottom-up socially dynamic musical practice. A closer cultural and historical examination of Rebetiko reveals a different image of Greek nationhood, one that is suffused with class consciousness and mediated through the artistic expression of a politically oppressed ethnic and national cultural practice. A study of music, and Rebetiko in particular, helps to unveil the inherent contradictions and controversies of Greek cultural nationalism.
The music performance of Rebetiko constitutes a unique field of investigation of the evolution of revolutionary tendencies from the beginning of the newly established Greek state in 1821 until today. Since Rebetiko is associated with revolutionary social groups and is still active as a genre in the same social groups, how does it apply over time? How can we identify the national identity promoted by the authorities of the Greek state through a musical genre that is opposed to official practices and political principles? Is this possible to see that through images that are related to the corresponding political periods?
This research also aims to investigate if there is a historic revolutionary continuity of the genre and the corresponding political, identities and national practices through the images, as they have been presented in the media, research publications, articles, as well as in websites. Through the historical and political correlation of the pictures, the overall image of the revolutionary, cultural and national identity in the Rebetiko song is identified.
Music is a way of expressing all social classes and structures in all the Western world. In every state, social class, period and political reality, different kinds of music are created, transformed and expressed. In this way, society and politics are connected. The state and all social structures are expressed through each genre representing its own cultural identity.
Rebetiko, as a musical genre, is associated with the lower social classes, which have the East as their point of reference and the corresponding musical traditions. It is expressed at an early stage in the 19th century with the Greek Revolution as a Klepht song and transformed into Rebetiko.
Images from online sites, forums, books, discography, electronic press, from the beginning of the genre will be used as the primary material to represent Rebetiko music. In this way, discourse analysis will show the continuity - evolution - the way of promoting the musical style, the differentiation in the musical instruments, the presentation of the gender and its connection with the revolutionary character and its development in a social context, both in Greece and abroad.1
Additionally, the contribution of popular films in the international and national context will be studied in the promotion of the musical genre. As a case study, Zorba the Greek will be used as well as Kostas Ferris's Rebetiko movie. These two films are of particular importance as the former introduced and promoted the image of Greek culture and a framework of Greek music in an international context with the projection and international recognition in 1965. The results of popularity, especially of music, are still visible today, as the melody is linked to the Greek identity. The second introduced the image of Rebetiko from another scope to the Greek audience.
Due to the international recognition of the film, reference will be made to the promotion and contribution of Rebetiko music outside Greece through Greek immigrants to America. These immigrants come from the working class. With their transition to the American continent, they maintain their social, cultural and national identity from Greece, hence the expression of Rebetiko music. In the early stages a musical scene is being created in America that concerns mainly Greek immigrants and to a broader audience with the popularity that Rebetiko acquired with the projection of Zorba. Moreover, it is essential to mention the Rebetiko of America, as the passage of Greek Rebetes to the Greek community and the representations that contributed to the evolution of the musical identity of the genre in Greece.
Having the above-mentioned data, historical retrospection will take place in the music scene, the recitation, and creation of Rebetiko music. It will be identified through the
bibliographic material, photographs, and films that project the continuity and the connection with the past and more importantly the image and evolution of Rebetiko music nowadays. National identity in Greece is a rather problematic term. Due to the particular historical past of Greece, there is a dual identity that has clear references in the West but also in the East.
The issue starts with the attempt to link and identify the modern Greek identity with that of ancient Greece. In this way the continuity of the state - nation - language - history takes place. At the same time, following the Greek Revolution, elements are found that contain in the same identity clear refers to the East because of the existence of the nation-state under the Ottoman Empire. The creation of the Greek national identity was a rather problematic issue from the outset, as the simultaneous and parallel integration of Eastern and Western elements was not easy. The official identity that was created is directed towards the Western pattern, seeking to move away from the Eastern past. In this sense, the groups of the lower social strata, which are more related to the Eastern past rather than the Western one, resist the same as with the higher classes and the official national identity.
The generic term “national identity” establishes a set of elements that give a particular nationality to a person or group of individuals. It is the term through which groups or individuals are self-defined at a national level. National characters, like any identity, are not stable and unchanging elements. These are cognitive constructions that are gradually shaped according to the social, political and historical circumstances.2
The creation of the nation state during the 19th century was the result of the need to redefine the identity of nations that were in danger of being lost in the framework of the multinational imperial systems, such as the Ottoman Empire, as well as the need to create new geopolitical boundaries, through the principles of self-determination and national consciousness proclaimed by the French Revolution. A form of nationalism stemming from the above policies is state and cultural nationalism. This nationalism expressed the need to preserve the national historical memory, to disseminate and to maintain the culture of a national community with collective identity, language and culture. That being said, cultural characteristics precede the creation of the nation, while these common characteristics define the “nation” regardless of the will of individuals, by common traits.
National communities are the modern forms that have been engaged by population collectives, which had previously existed as cultural communities. These cultural
communities are mainly determined by language and, in some cases, by religion, and have been reformed in time before transforming into homogeneous political and cultural ensembles within the states of modernity.3
Citizens of the modern world are called upon to manage multiple identities while facing dilemmas about the moral hierarchy of these identities and the obligations they entail. National integrity and primary loyalty to the nation and its interests that it demands is not always compatible with universal moral values as they demand human rights and respect for diversity. Indeed, the demands of loyalty to the nation that de facto appeal to the logic of moral parity can create compulsions that threaten the freedom of individual moral consciousness and interfere with the fulfillment of the certain order.
The opposing perspectives of East and West have contributed to the creation of Greek national identity. The Greeks have a Western past, but it was evolved during the Byzantine years. We cannot ignore the inclusion of Eastern elements in the existing identity during the period of the Ottoman Empire. It is, therefore, reasonable to have an impact and rupture in specific population groups.4
More specifically, each social group carries its own identity, which coexists with the national one. In the course of contemporary Greek history and consequently of the modern Greek state, there is a simultaneous development and coexistence of true identities with both Eastern and Western origins.5 However, social groups that are more related to the East and
others with Western elements are also identified. Defenders of the Western identity are the groups of the upper social strata, while the corresponding Eastern, middle, low and especially the working class. We are going to focus on this page with the latter, as it is the primary representative of Rebetiko music. Through its artistic expression, several Eastern elements are identified through musical theory, lyrics, musical instruments, and dialectical social practices of the time. These elements are also evident through the material of the photographs that will be studied, but also through the modern bibliographic sources representing the revolutionary action of the Rebetiko musicians, performers, and audiences.
After the active presence in almost two centuries of the musical genre, in 2017 Rebetiko is under UNESCO protection as a product of intangible cultural heritage. This action can indicate the recognition of the musical style as part of the broader cultural identity of Greece.
3Gellner, Ernest. Nations and nationalism. Cornell University Press, 2008, p. 118-125.
4Smith, Anthony D. "National identity and the idea of European unity." International affairs 68, no. 1 1992: 55-76. 5Smith, Anthony D. Myths and Memories of the Nation. Vol. 9. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
But this can also show the appreciation of the part of the Eastern identity in the national and cultural identity of the whole of Greece. There is a definite possibility that this action will not define the entire Greek population consistent, as the genre is not linked to the higher social strata, which are not identical to the revolutionary leftist movement of the working class. To see whether the totality of the Greek state is similar to Rebetiko, we should see what is Rebetiko, when did it appear as a term, how it is presented, how it is addressed and by whom, whether it has been transformed to reach the point of being part of UNESCO as an element of intangible cultural heritage.
Chapter 2.
2.1 The history of Rebetiko
2.1.1 Kleftiko songs: Klephts and Armatoloi
The Klephts6 were groups of criminals who were organized into gangs and stole or
extorted the villages of the Turkish-occupied Greek province. In their ranks, we see not only ethnic Greeks but also Albanians and Turks. The armatoloi7 were local chieftains and
appeared as opponents to the thieves; they had a mandate from the Ottoman authorities to protect and monitor the group of klephts within the country in an attempt to limit the crime. It should be noted that the rotation of roles between thieves and “armatoloi” was frequent; if the armatoloi were deemed ineffective for the task assigned to them, then the Ottoman authorities took over an active gang of thieves. As a result, the former Klephts were then in power, while the old armed men resort to crime and become thieves trying to re-demonstrate their effectiveness: in this way they sought to regain their former role and their privileges. We observe that legitimacy and illegitimacy were alternating states for the armed groups of Greece, mainly in the inaccessible, mountainous areas where the armed forces were developed. Over the years, the words “armatoloi” and “Klephts” became entangled and lost their completely distinct meaning. As Alexis Politis says, the identification of “armatoloi” and Klephts has brought similar confusion to names. The meaning of the word “Klephts” was spread out and it also included “armatoloi.” The identity of the two words, without being absolute, dates back to the middle of the 18th century.8
Klephts’ songs, as a distinct kind of epic folk songs, took their name from the content of their lyrics. As far as Greece is concerned, Klephts are the creation of a certain period of Ottoman domination after the 16th century while their themes reveal the revolutionary action of the thieves and the “armatoloi.” The lyrics consist of appraisals of life, victorious battle or glorious death. Although they refer to historical events, they do not include a precise narrative of a historical event or a specific person. Here, the heroes, unlike the frontiers, have
6Klephts or Kleftes are the thieves in Greek.
7Armatoloi are the armed forces during the Greek Revolution. 8Politis, Alexis, The Folk Songs: Klepht Songs. Athens: Estia. 2012, p.36.
no supernatural abilities and are mere mortals. In the pure, simple, without explanations and descriptions of incidents, thieving songs the transition from one image to another is fast. There is an active dialogue between people, and sometimes, when there is not another person, the creator introduces a conventional image, like a bird with human form, a daughter, to produce the dialogue.9
Klephts performing with Greek musical instruments during the 19th century. These musical instruments have
Eastern origin and are also related to the Byzantine. The performers are male, while women are dancing. The main feature is the glory of freedom, not national independence from the nation, but personal eagerness, as noted by Politis. The lyrics of the thunderous songs follow simple motifs. They aim to reproduce verbatim and the incident they describe, while the use of toponyms places the historical conflict in a specific space. The interactive form of Klephts songs is also customary: dialogue takes place either between thieves or between a Klephts and another non-human person with human features (e.g., birds). The details presented by the
9Fauriel, Adrahtas, Svoronos, and Kontogiorgis, etc., support the view that the thief songs express the spirit of rebellion of
social strata against the Ottoman authority. On the other hand, Nikolaos Politis considers the klepht songs to be a part of armatoloi songs. See also Burned. Municipal Song. A Different Approach. Athens: Patakis. 1996, p. 279-280.
poet take the imagination of the listener by hand and lead him to a very specific framework of action. Even the names of the protagonists of the song are disclosed, while - through the repetition of various verbal forms - the emphasis is placed on the content: the poet tries with this trick to guide the listener's attention to some specific information.
It is a fact that in the provinces of Central Greece, Epirus, Thessaly, Western Macedonia and Central Macedonia, especially in the mountainous and inaccessible areas, a particular system of public security, organized at the local level, has been shaped in the last centuries of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the protection of many neighboring communities was granted by the Ottoman authorities to a group of local armed troops. They were tasked with dealing with other groups of locally armed robbers who, by their illegal armed action, such as pillaging, listening, etc., and overall threatening the lives and property of the inhabitants.10
Klephts performing during the Greek Revolution. This picture presents only male performers and dancers. In the Klephts songs, moments from the action of these groups are portrayed. These are mainly incidents of armed confrontation between private groups with “armatoloi,” but also aspects of their life in general. Besides, they exude value systems, life stances and cultural
10 Damianakos, Stathis. Tradition of rebellion and folk culture (Παράδοση ανταρσίας και λαϊκός πολιτισµός). Athens:
practices that are mainly developed in rural areas and mountain ranges. From this point of view, the Klephts constitute a cultural production of a historically and socially defined social reality: the isolated agricultural and pastoral communities of the southern Balkan area in the 18th century.
However, these armed groups were encircled by a mythological dimension and reduced to national myths as evidence of the Greek nation's determined resistance against the Ottomans. Consequently, folkloric analyses of the crooked song and its prominent position in the Greek folk architecture do not provide evidence either from the textual analysis or other relevant historical testimonies. It is understood that since the written word was the means of expression and communication of the governing classes and the legitimate society - or the social body that produced the cryptic song were the thieves, i.e., the team of Klephts that acted throughout the Balkan and the Near East, or the “armatoloi” - it is concluded that it became a vehicle of expression of ideologies of this era.11
Oppressive taxation and related speculation or the arbitrary exercise of power are the primary sources of tension. At the level of social conflicts, with a focus on the distribution of wealth and the claim of power and authority, the pillars of opposition focus on possessing goods in opposition to social robbery, legal power against anti-piracy, anti-thieves and law-abiding society the Communion of the Andartes.12 The anti-paranoia society, legitimacy
against illegality and submission to rebellion, lead to the fundamental contradiction that the formal prosecution of the illegal people as opposed to the practical institutionalization of their regulatory, social role.13
Klepht songs is the most important musical form of expression during the Greek Revolution of 1821. They express the majority of the lower social strata and the working class bearing the tax burdens. The working class represents the most significant part of Greek society even to this day. It is characteristic that in the theme of Klepht’s songs there is a revolutionary attitude towards the ruling class that seeks to impose the Western-style identity changes in the newly established Greek state. These changes contradict to the social group of thieves, who seek and embrace the continuation of the previous and familiar Eastern identity brought about by Ottoman sovereignty.
11Kapsomenos, Eratosthenis. Folk song: A different approach (Δηµοτικό τραγούδι. Μια διαφορετική προσέγγιση). Athens:
Patakis, p.22-29.
12Andartes is the umbrella term which includes all the rebels during the Greek Revolution.
13Diamantouros, Nikiforos. The Consequences of Construction of the Modern State in Greece 1821-1828 (Οι Απαρχές της
2.1.2 The Period of the Klephts Song
In the pre-revolution Greece of the 18th century, the demand for national independence gradually matures and is expressed through the two dominant - but also conflicting - ideological visions: the "Greece" of Adamantios Korais and the "Balkan Federation" of Rigas Velestinlis. In the case of the Korais' view, the Western states that have been created in Europe are a model that Greece should follow as an example. In the case of Velestinlis, the model is multinational empires, such as Byzantium, Russia (or even the Ottoman Empire itself), part of which is subjugated Hellenism. At the same time, the Patriarchate expresses the tendency of Greek hegemonism through its positions for an Orthodox Commonwealth. The international conjuncture, advancing the interests of the Great Powers, drives the demand for independence towards a model nation-state, away from the Byzantine model and the possible subsequent creation of special ties with Russia. This way, the national identity will be sought out in the Greek origin by the Ancient Greeks, as well as the affinity and continuity with the language and heritage of ancient Greece. Besides, the new free state is territorially identified with the ancient Greek civilization being in the center which helps to determine identity in the modern Greek basin.14
14Veloudis, Georgios. Jacob Philip Fallmerayer and the genesis of Greek history (Ο Jacob Philip Fallmerayer και η γένεση
Klephts performing during the Greek Revolution. The performers are once again male, and the musical instruments have Eastern origin.
Following the developments in the West, Greece initially embraced the Enlightenment vision. However, it maintains Orthodoxy as a sovereign element of the identity of the new state, which is encouraged by the Russian state. Russia encourages this religious approach, but on a mild level, so as not to threaten the Hellenization of the Slavs in the Balkans, which would not serve its interests. These peculiar components of the formation of the modern Greek nation impose the necessity of forming a particular cultural identity: the identity of the
new state should go beyond specific trends and contradictions. It should combine the elements that arise from ancient Greece with those from the Byzantine world.15
The dominant ideology demands the rejection of every cultural element characterized by the “Oriental.” The goal is, obviously, to confirm the established obsessions, as the term “Oriental” is equated with the term “Muslim” and thus “non-western”: the western model is the framework in which the newly established Greek state will exist. Under this tension, the Klephts song, which is verbally related to the Greek liberation struggle and is not Oriental, is used as a field of “ideologization and idealization.” At the same time, it serves as a proof of a pure, unperfused national identity.
2.2 Rebetiko Songs
Rebetiko song (or in general the genre of Rebetika)16 is the Greek urban folk song that
appeared at the end of the 19th century and acquired its familiar form until about the third decade of the 20th century. It evolved in the harbors of Greek cities where the working class lived and then went to other urban centers.
As Panos Savvopoulos informs us, the word Rebetiko is quite misleading. However, it first appeared between 1910 and 1913 on labels of two gramophone records. The first was published in Istanbul in 1912 by record label Orfeon Record. On the one side there is the song “Denia,” which was initially a success story in Smyrna and then recorded. On the label of the disc and next to the title, in brackets, there is the Rebetiko indication. The other album was recorded in Constantinople in 1913 by the German label Favourite Record. Below the title, there is the title Rebetiko.17
Rebetes18 themselves called their songs simply “folk.” The term “Rebetiko” was
established in the 1960s, mainly due to the work of Elias Petropoulos, to include all the
15 Fauriel, Claude. Greek Folk Songs (Ελληνικά Δηµοτικά Τραγούδια). Eds. Politis, Alexios. Volume 1. Heraklion:
University Publication of Crete. 2011, p.111.
16Rebetika is the plural of Rebetiko. When the term is in the singular, we define the style and in plural the song collection.
The same applies to the terminology of the performers. Rebetis is one performer of Rebetiko and Rebetes (in plural) are many performers.
17 Savvopoulos, Panos. On the Reading of the Word ‘Rebetiko’ (Περί της λέξεως ‘ρεµπέτικο' το ανάγνωσµα... και άλλα.)
Athens: Odos Panos. 2006, pp.4-21.
18 Rebetis (singular) is the performer of the music genre Rebetiko. Rebetes (plural) are the performers of the Rebetiko
previous popular music, but also other tunes such as the songs from Minor Asia,19 the songs
from Constantinople,20 the murmur21 and other stray songs, which do not have a close
musical relationship between them.
In one sense, the use of the term Rebetiko was worthier of the folk genre because the later refers directly to the people they are writing listening to and expressing themselves with this music. Therefore, it better served the term Rebetiko, which is generally as a term. In fact, since the mid-20th century, one cannot notice any difference between Rebetiko and folk songs.
Rebetiko, in the then newly established Greek state, was mainly played in Piraeus due to the mobility that existed in the harbor, the urbanization and the principle of the industry. The industry that was being developed is essentially the continuation and effort of upgrading the crafts that existed until then in the urban centers. At the same time, an attempt to “upgrade” the cities, the rhythm, roads, and the railway network is evident, with the aim to connect and integrate the Greeks into the European standards and the imperatives of the West and, by extension, the new creditors.
The leading performers of Rebetiko were mostly men of the lower social class. They represent the working class, which was weak and opposed to the different imperatives and new standards that the new state had to follow. They are people who are against the state's precepts, on a personal and social level and opposed to any power. Their main characteristic
19The songs of the Minor Asia, or as they are known in Greece Smyrnaica, are called the songs that came to the Greek state
from the region of Smyrna and Minor Asia from the refugees in 1922. They are geographically defined and related to the Rebetiko song as far as the urban musical tradition of the region is concerned. They differ organologically, as different musical instruments dominate most of the musical theory of the east but also have influences from the West due to the frequent passage of naval crews from the West to the port of Smyrna.
20The songs from Constantinople, or Politika, are called the songs that came to the Greek state from Constantinople (which
is nowadays known as Istanbul) by its refugees. They are related to songs from Smyrna, as both genres were developed on the geographical territory of the Ottoman Empire by the Greek population. Both styles combine Eastern Music theory with Western influences, as they were both drafted in cosmopolitan cities.
21 Murmur were the songs that were developed by the convicts of the Medrese Prison during the Ottoman Empire. In the
second half of the 19th century, during the reign of King Otto and King George II, the Medreses, which was an Islamic facility of education for Sunni, was used as a prison and space for execution of political prisoners. Prisoners were not allowed to sing, so instead of provoking the guards, who were looking for a reason to punish them, they were whispering.
is “magia”22 and illegality.23 They consider it “honorable” and an indication of the prestige of this “magia” if they end up in jail, which was quite common.24
Rebetes at a shop in Piraeus in the early 20th century. Performers and audience are only male. Only string
instruments are visible in this picture with Eastern and Western origin. The picture was taken at a shop in a neighborhood that people of the lower strata used to live.
22 The term is in slang, and this case is “cunning,” which is one of the main characteristics that construct the identity of
Rebetiko and its representatives.
23 Tzakis, Dionisis. “The world of magia: the image of the good man in the sphere of Rebetes,” in Rebetes and Rebetiko
Song (Ο «κόσµος της µαγκιάς»: παραστάσεις του καλού άντρα στο χώρο των ρεµπετών, στο Ρεµπέτες και ρεµπέτικο τραγούδι). Athens: Plethron. 2007.
24 Damianakos, Sthathis. “Illegality and political relations,” in Ethos and culture of dangerous classes in Greece
Rebetes at a shop in Piraeus in the 1930’s. Performers and audience are only male. Only one bouzouk (string instrument with Eastern origin) is visible. Performers and audience are only men.
The upper class tried to combat any potential illegality. The upper class was sometimes afraid of the power that was introduced by the lower class, which could easily result in revolutionary movements that would try and gain control. Those protests which were shown through the characteristics of “magia” were to be terminated, as the rebellion performers of Rebetiko music usually introduced the opposition to the upper classes and the Western identity of the Greek state.
Rebetiko is a music genre, which was expressed outside of the domestic sphere, and mainly in the “tekke," a sort of underground coffee house, a pleasure den of illegality.25 The scripture is a word of East-Ottoman origin and contains a religious concept for the Ottomans. The use of the term “tekke” reveals in a first stage the content of music, not with regard to the religious element, but the musical origin and correlation of Rebetiko with the East, the musical tropical system (modal music, makam), organology, rhythmology, music form and development, which contradicts the musical harmony and musical evolution that existed until then in the West.
25 Even if tekkes is defined in the English dictionary as A monastery of dervishes, especially in Ottoman Turkey, in this
At its initial stage, the secret place for gathering and expressing Rebetiko music was a small barrier where usually there were almost no furniture. Rebetes26 are seated down on the ground creating a circle while smoking and playing music. These places evolved in the late 19th century and the “tekkes” are now taking the form of a “shop” where Rebetes, expressing that particular subculture, frequenting “mages”27 who oppose power.28
In addition to “tekke,” the main area of performance of Rebetiko was the prison.29 Rebetes, as mentioned above, was the inferior social order, they were mainly representatives of the working class, anti-authoritarians and an essential feature of their social group, and the central element of joining was “magia” and illegality. Illegality was initially several times deliberate, as a means of proving its “magia.” Most of the time, illegality and imprisonment were not justified by their behavior but were the result of the upper class' attempt to “subdue” the inferior order consisting of Rebetes, to prevent the unlawfulness and to impose the West and the foreigner's habits. This behavior resulted in the prisons having a large number of expressers of Rebetiko-folk urban music on a daily basis. So, it makes sense that a prison was a place of expression of Rebetes and Rebetiko music. In prisons, Rebetes were playing music by using and creating improvised musical instruments from objects that could be found in the field, as the police had the mandate to seize their musical instruments. The homemade musical instruments consisted mainly of canes and wires, which seem to justify the subsequent transformation and evolution of the musical instruments.
2.3 Rebetiko periods
Elias Petropoulos, one of the greatest scholars of Rebetika, divides the story of rebetiko into three periods:
26As Rebetes we mean the performers of Rebetiko music.
27 Magas (plural: mages) was a characterisation for men belonging to the working class, behaving in an arrogant way, and
dressing with a very typical vest made of a woolen hat (kavouraki, crab), a jacket (they usually wore only one of its sleeves), a tight belt (used as a knife case), stripe pants, and pointy shoes. Other characteristics of their appearance were their long mustache, their bead chaplets, and their personal manners limp-walking.
28 Chatzidakis, Kostas. From the house to the street: An approach of space/time structures in the rebetiko song, in the
Rebetes and rebetiko song (Από το «σπίτι» στο «δρόµο»: µια προσέγγιση των δοµών χώρου/ χρόνου στο ρεµπέτικο τραγούδι, στο Ρεµπέτες και ρεµπέτικο τραγούδι). Athens: Plethron. 2007.
29 Savvopoulos, Panos. “Prison and drugs,” in About the word rebetiko the reading (Φυλακές και ουσίες, στο Περί της
1922-1932 - The dominance of Smyrna music. 1932-1942 - The Classic Period.
1942-1952 - The period of broad dissemination and acceptance.
Vassilis Tsitsanis. A famous performer and songwriter of Rebetiko music from Trikala. In this picture from the 1950’s, he is playing a four-string bouzouki.
Markos Vamvakaris was one of the most significant performers and music writers of Rebetiko music in the 20th century. He was born in Syros, a Greek island with Eastern and Western influences, which was also
obvious in his songs. Here he is posing with his four-string bouzouki.
The first Rebetiko songs refer mainly to delinquent acts and romantic relationships, while the social element in the theme is limited. At that time, the Piraeus style of the music genre was dominant, with Markos Vamvakaris being the principal representative of this music period. At the same time, the Smyrnian composers started to compose Rebetiko music.
Up to the German invasion of Athens, where the recordings of Columbia stop, apart from some propagandistic Nazi marches. Panagiotis Tountas becomes the pivot of Rebetiko song with experience in 78-speed discography and multiple records. In 1937 Vassilis Tsitsanis and Manolis Chiotis appeared in the music reality of Rebetiko scene.
In 1936, Tunta's song “Barbara” is being censored. A song that caused a scandal at the time it was released. Satirical, intelligently sexual implications was considered by the fascist regime of John Metaxas to be highly offensive to the public, and rumors said the song was referring to Metaxa's daughter. It was extremely successful and sold around 90,000 records. The song was banned while Tountas was taken to court and sentenced to a heavy financial fine. The police searched, picked up and broke all copies of “Barbara” found. Tountas replied
by re-circulating the song with other lyrics and other titles and success continued. However, this case was the cause of censorship and an attempt to wipe out anything that could serve as a reminder of the Eastern past in Greece. Thus, many of the Asia Minor composers who refused to adapt to a more “Western-style” type of music or those who wrote bold verses disappeared. Tounta's position on record companies was weakened.
Nevertheless, Tountas continued to write until 1941 when the Germans closed the record shops. Many composers of the period stopped recording in 1937, as they refused to accept that their music work could be censored by the Metaxas regime. In 1937 the Metaxa regime imposed generalized restrictions. Content is necessarily changing. Reports of hashish, teats, and hookahs are extinct.
During the Metaxa's censorship, for the first time in addition to the lyrics of songs, their music is also targeted. This includes the modality of music and eastern Ottoman Music theory. The immediate aim is to eliminate the music of the refugees or to marginalize them, which was achieved. From this time on, Rebetiko or folk song, relied heavily on western theory and harmony.
Rebetiko performance of music in a Music Scene. On the right of the picture, we can see Vassilis Tsitsanis performing with his bouzouki. In this picture we can see male performers with bouzouki, guitar, violin, accordion. The influence of the Western music is becoming obvious, through the use of specific musical instruments. Male are dominant as performers and female as singers.
Songs are written during the Occupation, but they do not go through the discography because the factories remain closed until 1946. From that moment on Vassilis Tsitsanis dominates the scene with Marika Ninou, Manolis Chiotis, Giorgos Mitsakis, Giannis Papaioannou. But most of the old Rebetes remain on the sidelines. Several of the Smyrnian composers (e.g., Panagiotis Tountas) die during the Occupation, but other representatives of Rebetiko music in Piraeus try to overcome the difficulties of this period. Markos Vamvakaris mentions in his autobiography that he used to perform on islands and festivals whenever he had the opportunity, to survive.30 In the 1940's Sotiria Bellou appeared, who is one of the most significant woman performers of Rebetiko. She used to perform until her death in the late 1990s. In the 1950s two notable young singers appeared, Stelios Kazantzidis and Grigoris Bithikotsis. Both of these two performers are linked to the migration of the working class and poverty of Greek lower strata. They were extraordinarily famous and represented the majority of the Greek population. Rebetiko finds resonance in ever more significant sections of the society. This has the effect of expanding its subject appearance of the Aristotle and to change the spaces in which it was heard. In the mid-1950s most researchers place the death of Rebetiko and the beginning of the so-called Archontorebetiko, which is the extremely commercial form of the Rebetiko genre.31
In the 1960s the popularity of the Rebetiko returns. The articles that were written, the significant efforts of many researchers, and the recording of Theodorakis' Epitaph in 1960, led to the reproduction of previous record of Rebetiko songs. Several recordings were reproduced as a whole or as singles, mainly with the voices of Grigoris Bithikotsis and Sotiria Bellou. Rebetes like Markos Vamvakaris and Stratos Dionisiou were able to perform once more in the new music venues. Meanwhile, Rebetiko music consumption began to be organized, as the youngest and oldest generations and admirers of the Rebetiko genre had the chance to meet old performers.
30 Vamvakaris, Markos. Markos Vamvakaris: The Man and the Bouzouki. Autobiography. Minogue, Noonie (translate).
Greeklines.com, 2015, p.44.
Picture from the 1930’s at a coffee shop. Male performers with guitar, bouzouki and baglamas at a neighborhood from the working class.
With the colonels' coup in 1967, censorship is more present than ever for Rebetiko genre. The composers had to submit the lyrics and the score for approval before releasing a song. Songs and lyrics that were resisting or protesting would not be approved to be released in public. Any old or new words that are inappropriate are forbidden or modified, such as the song by Akis Panos and Grigoris Bithikotsis “I will close my eyes, I will spread my hands
away from poverty, away from misery” which is modified to “I will close my eyes, I will spread my hands to nest white pigeons” and it is re-recorded by a female singer this time.
During this time Rebetiko production is about the love song, and there are no recordings of a revolutionary character, social injustice, and protest.
Performance of Rebetiko music from Minor Asia in the 1930’s. Male performers are playing oud and politiki lyre, while Roza Eskenazi, a famous Rebetiko singer is accompanying with the percussion.
In 1968 Elias Petropoulos' book “Rebetika Tragoudia” was released.32 The book, introduced the term “Rebetiko,” which included all the previous decades of Rebetiko expression. In the early part of the 1970s, some of the greatest performers of Rebetiko die, such as Stratos Dionisiou and Markos Vamvakaris and many biographies of Rebetes performers are being published. As the majority of the previous and significant performances is gone, there is a big discussion about the introduction of Rebetiko music in the University, as it was considered to be a Greek music genre which is linked to folk music and Greek national identity. In the 1980s films with the central theme of Rebetiko music are being produced, such as Rebetiko by Kostas Ferris with songs whose subject matter and music resemble those of Rebetika. The same applies to Television series with the most popular being the Minore of Dawn. In 1984 Vassilis Tsitsanis died, and his funeral becomes a public expense. Rebetiko is registered as a valid musical genre in the New International Dictionary of Music and Musicians (The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians). Museums are established, conferences are organized, graduate and doctoral dissertations are approved. The key to the disclosure of the Greek identity is the projection of the film Zorba the
Greek in the 1960s. It is a British-Greek film of 1964, directed by Michael Cacoyannis with
Anthony Quinn, Alan Baits, Irene Pappa and Sotiris Moustakas being on the lead roles. It is based on the book by Nikos Kazantzakis. The film won three Academy Awards in 1964, with Oscar's second most important female role in Lila Centru's performance as Madama Ordans. The music of Mikis Theodorakis's became world-renowned as Syrtaki. The scenes of the film were filmed in Crete.
Chapter 3
3.1 Musical instruments and Identity
From the beginning of Klepht music in the 20th century to the present day, we could notice different musical instruments being used, but they have many things in common. From the beginning of the Klepht songs, the use of lutes is prevalent in the majority of the performances. The music instrument bouzouki has the most influential presence from the beginning of Rebetiko until now.33
The difference in development is also noticed in the corresponding periods. During the time of Klepht music and in the 20th century, string instruments, which are small in size, and have eastern origin are being used. The representative musical instrument is the sazi34 that
applies microtones (modal music) in musical performance and the theory of Eastern music (Turkish Makam and Greek musical routes, which are known as dhromoi). As a musical instrument, it is effortless to carry because of its weight, shape, and size. This is why, the instrument is prevalent during the Greek Revolution.
From 1900 until 1922, Rebetiko received several influences from the folk songs. At that time the musical instruments that were in use are: violin, guitar, santuri, cimbalom,35 piano,
davul,36 folk percussion, clarinet, folk flutes, trombone, trumpet. In that period, the musical
instruments vary because they apply to the geographical area that the Rebetiko is being performed. In cases that the musical instruments have an eastern origin and the culture is the east Mediterranean, musicians play in Eastern musical theory.
33Bouzouki is a lute-stringed popular musical instrument with a pearl resonator (vessel). Along the arm, there are three or
four pairs of metal strings which produce sound when they are plucked. It is used to perform mainly the melody of the songs.
34Sazi is a string instrument which is related to the lutes and used to perform the melody of the music pieces.
35Both santuri, and cimbalom are string music instruments that produce sound while being struck by the performer. They
both produce melody and harmony. Their main difference is in the shape, size, and volume, as cimbalom is bigger than santuri.
36Davul is a folk percussion instrument, round and tight from both sides with leather. The percussionists struck both leather
Picture from male performers with music instruments of Eastern origin (oud and violin which was performed while using the modal theory).
From 1922 until 1934, the refugees of Asia Minor and their musical influences changed the music map in Greece. Only violin, guitar, bass, lute, oud,37 piano, politiki (from
Constantinople) lyre,38 santur, tambouras, and cello are used. The harmonica is the only
wind instrument which is being used during this decade, as well as zills, are the only percussion.
The period 1934-1940 with Rebetiko from Piraeus impose a new rhythm but also an original composition of musical instruments in the shops. Specifically, at that time they were playing the violin, guitar, bouzouki, baglamas,39 accordion. The instruments are more limited
in number at that time, and still mainly apply Eastern music theory, albeit approximate, due to the non-application of microtones to specific musical instruments, such as the accordion. The most significant move towards harmonizing musical tracks and commercializing them through the discography was found in 1950. At that time, Manolis Chiotis returned from
37Oud is an Arabic, string, plucked music instruments, which produces the melody. It has an eastern origin and promotes
efficiently the music theory of Makam.
38Politiki lyre is a string, music instrument that reproduces the melody with the aid of a bow, like a violin. In this case, the
performers apply vertically the musical instrument in front of them.
39 Baglamas is a small representation of bouzouki. Because of the size of the instrument, there are limitations during the
Greece, where he had gone for a long time. With the help of the electronic sound application, Chiotis added another pair of strings to the bouzouki, making it easier to play the musical instrument. The way of the guitar is now followed, and the Western theory begins on music development of the East.
Male performers of Rebetiko music with Eastern musical instruments. Sitting in the center there is a female singer with a percussion.
Evolution is also found in the way the orchestra is formed. As we have seen above, different musical instruments have appeared throughout Rebetiko music. The main application and use are stringed musical instruments. Correspondingly, evolution is traced to the orchestras over time. The Rebetiko orchestras were small in the beginning because of their revolutionary identity. While at first, the Klephts were mainly in units, with the transformation of the musical stream into Rebetiko music, we observe different combinations of instruments. Initially, the combination of the violin – kanun - guitar, violin - guitar, violin – santur - guitar and violin – oud - guitar, and especially in the first half of the 20th century, with the arrival of refugees from Asia Minor is exceptionally present. Then, a dominant role in the musical performances has the bouzouki, as a three-string music instrument at first and as a four-string instrument with the intervention of Chiotis in 1950. The bouzouki family dominates and the combinations of bouzouki-guitar-baglama, two bouzouki-guitar-baglama,
two bouzouki - guitar - baglamas - accordion, two bouzouki - guitar, and the most common up to today that is a bouzouki - guitar.
In all of these periods until today, there is a development of the musical instruments and a tendency towards their westernization. From the beginning of the 19th century, with the Klepht song, the instruments were more straightforward, they were related to the evolution of the musical instruments found in Byzantium and apply the music theory. On the other hand the music of the broader eastern Mediterranean and of the Ottoman Empire, as well as of Eastern method. At the initial stage, therefore, there is no organizational identity with the music of the West.
During the beginning of the 20th century, there was a gradual differentiation with the past, related to identifying and attempting to distance itself from the Eastern identity and the recent history. Gradually, the use of guitar, piano and in general Western music theory, mainly in the upper social strata, is part of this. On the contrary, the left-wing, revolting in the policy of the state and the successors of the Eastern music tradition are being persecuted.
Male performers of Rebetiko music from Minor Asia. In the center we can see the music instrument santuri, which has Eastern origin but can also perform Western music theory. The same applies for the violin, which
is on the left of the picture. The other Rebetiko performers play bouzouki and guitar. This picture provides information and the majority of the musical and cultural identity from Minor Asia, which includes both Easter and Western elements.
There have been recorded several incidents of arresting citizens who wanted to play Rebetiko music, which for the most of the 20th century was under persecution. Due to these conditions, the Rebetes were forced to become quite inventive and re-create different musical instruments. The bouzouki in its original form is a musical instrument with a long sleeve and three iron strings, which due to its large size is difficult to carry, especially during the period of occupation, the music of prohibition and censorship. Rebels and followers of the previous Greek identity with eastern elements to avoid imprisonment created a new musical instrument, the baglama, which is a miniature of the bouzouki. With this unique musical instrument, Rebetes can interpret their music in a limited range, as they can hide it under their coat without creating the impression that the organs of the class are wrong.
This move created a new method of demonstrating the “magia,” as the Rebetes were once again innovative and while opposing the state that imposed on all social classes the new identity, which might not have been in line with the social practices of the Rebels. The bouzouki has been identified with the image of Rebetes and is part of the male folk music identity until today.
Then and in the long run, Rebetiko acquired its music scene and audience, which are again under constraints and, as it was stated before, quite often in a state of persecution and censorship. With the inclusion of the refugees of Asia Minor, as we have seen above, there is an adaptation of the musical instruments and the integration of more refugees, yet again referring to the East and the corresponding identifying past. Rebetiko music remains a favorite kind that is opposed to the beliefs of the upper strata.
As we can see through the photographs, up to the classical period of Rebetiko, until 1940, the representatives of the Rebetiko scene use the bouzouki in its original form, and the violin-santuri, a figure that came from Minor Asia. The shape that has been more in use and still exists today is guitar and bouzouki due to the secure transfer of musical instruments as well as the easiest and quicker tuning.
The bouzouki, as well as the baglama, prevailed for the sake of easy transport and as a point of connection with the revolutionary image of the folk instrument player who sought the continuity with the past.
With the passing of the years, the pictures reveal that, the use of musical instruments is more limited and concerns its musical instruments associated with either the Western music scene or having the ability to apply Western music theory more easily. It seems that while in the early stages of the Klepht music and the first period of Rebetiko there is the use of musical instruments that are most relevant to the eastern musical tradition of the country, such as bouzouki, santur, kanun, harmonica, tzouras,40 the violin.41
Since the period of occupation, old musical instruments related to the Eastern identity of the country are used, but to a lesser extent. The use of the bouzouki, guitar, violin, and baglamas is preferred. There is also the use of older musical instruments, but to a lesser extent, due to the difficulty in transportation and their winding. An important factor was also the high use of power by the police and the censorship of the era, which forced Rebetes into creative ways of communicating and performing music. In this way, the smaller musical instruments prevailed at that time.
From the 1950s onwards, we see in the pictures that bouzouki now prevails. As a musical instrument, it has been linked to the “magia” and revolutionary working class. With the introduction of the electronic musical instruments and the addition of an extra pair of strings by Manolis Chiotis, the new kind of promotion of the musical genre can be identified. A more Western style is applied to the sound of Rebetiko music. Together with the bouzouki, the guitar prevails, and in some cases the baglamas.
There is a tendency to westernize the musical pieces that apply the musical listening of Eastern identity through the scope of the Western theory. The musical compositions are still censored and remain in the margins due to their identification with the revolutionary Left in Greece. Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis contributed to the re-integration of Rebetiko music into the foreground through their work, which is addressed to an international audience and on the other hand, are pompous and revolutionary.
Towards the end of the 20th century, the bouzouki, guitar, harmony as the musical instruments of performance at Rebetiko, which are not so famous, especially during the last two decades, are located in the almost exclusive icons. Political prosperity, membership in adoption of Western identity, and the need for some revolution do not favor the popularity of the genre, without that meaning that it ceases to exist. Its reproduction is more suited to the
40Tzouras is also a plucked music instrument, which resembles the bouzouki, has eastern origin, is related to the image of
“magia”. It is the medium size of bouzouki and baglama.
popular music. The audience is not interested in music and is identified with the Western growth and economic prosperity.
Musical well-being and development of popular music continue until the end of the first decade of the 20th century. With the country's accession to the financial crisis and the International Economic Fund, Rebetiko's music reality and popularity are changing. The working class is faced with another one with an identity rating from East to West and on the other by Western elements. The labor class, which once again takes on most of the tax and the measures, opposes Western identity and returns to the old and familiar East and the main revolutionary music genre, which is Rebetiko. The musical instruments remain, but at the same time the musical instruments that refer to the East, such as santuri, kanun, lyra, oud, come back to a great extent. The Rebetiko music scene presents different aspects of Rebetiko, that continue to perform the non-qualitative music that has developed over the last decades due to mass consumption, and which restores the type and adapts it to the present, having as its basis the revolutionary character, Eastern musical identity and combination with Western music theory.
3.2 Rebetiko and Gender
Rebetiko genre is a place of expression mainly male-dominated. It was a world that is inextricably linked to society, through which the male “magia” was expressed. At the time when this expression began, patriarchy prevailed. Men were free to express themselves in the public sphere while women remained at home. Nevertheless, with the reversal of thieving music to Rebetiko, several women actively participated as singers or creators.
It is the emergence of the first wave that focuses on bourgeois demands and does not yet touch the core of the female desire. Rebetes renounced the traditional mother-spouse-housewife triptych, ignored their weight in the "ethical scales" and entered the hedonistic and unconventional world of Rebetiko.
Rebetes, men, and women were not expressed in the upper social strata but in “tekkes,” taverns and places where there was illegality, until the end of the 1940s. Songs and photographs are a unique source of information on social structures and perceptions through the prism and the perspective of the working class.
The theme of Rebetiko is related mainly to the presence of the woman. Initially, there is a woman's role as an object of admiration but also as entertainment in the Rebetiko area. Rebetes woman claims a place outside the home and wants to entertain like a man, which is entirely contradictory to the social principles of the age. The lives of women were emblematic and fictional. They claimed the ease in everyday life and equality. They can be described as early feminists.
Men have the absolute freedom, from social structures, to express themselves in such places of illegality, liberty, and unlawfulness.42 They respected the women who chose and
claimed their presence in “tekkes” and several times the creators of the musical pieces were honored with their stories. After all, it is no coincidence that several song titles include female names.43
Photographic material testifies enough for the female and male presence in the Rebetiko music scene. Initially, from all the graphic material listed in work, as well as in the entire Rebetiko discography and creation, the leading performers are men throughout the Rebetiko musical tradition. Especially from the principles of the Klephts, as it appears from the pictures, the performers were only men in the vocal but also on live performances. The change is spotted in the first decade of the 20th century, and we observe the early female interpreters.44
42Ortner, Sherry B. "Ανθρωπολογία, γυναίκες και φύλο." Eds: Bakalaki, Alexandra. Athens: Alexandria, 1994, p. 121. 43 Pagalis, Nikos Το ρεµπέτικο τραγούδι: οι απολογητές του και η αξία του. Ιn Vlisidis, Kostas. Rare texts about Rebetiko
(1929-1959). Athens: Editions of the Twenty-First. Pp.182-183.
44 Pomata, Jane. “The history of women: an issue of limits." In Avdela, Efi, and Psarra, Aggeliki (eds). Silent stories:
Rebetiko performance in the 21st century. In this picture we can see the continuity and the resemblance of
Rebetiko performances from the previous century. The performers are again male, and the singer is female and the same musical instruments from the 1950’s are in use (bouzouki, baglamas, guitar).
The female presence, though questioned or misunderstood because of Rebetiko's connection with illegality and opposition to social and religious practices, is always active. It is noteworthy that women have been introduced until the 1980s only as singers and not as interpreters of a musical instrument. The only exception is the use of some traditional crook, such as Zilli45 or defi,46 but they are only used to accompany the music and keep the rhythm.
Until then, women are fewer in number, and their purpose is either companion or vocal. Men, on the other hand, are found throughout Rebetiko's creation to have an active presence both in vocal and organic roles. They are identified as total representatives of the Rebetiko and, to the most significant extent, they are excellent. Even after the 1990s when the female presence in the music scene is beginning to spread, men are the cooperative majority in Rebetiko with regard to women, who then have the opportunity to present themselves as performers of musical instruments without being censored by the perceptions of society, they still choose the song in relation to the use of musical instruments.
45Zilli are ancient percussion instruments. They are iron or wooden small cymbals that sound when fixed to their fingers;
they strike each other.
46Defi is a round percussion. It is used in the music of the broader eastern Mediterranean. In Rebetiko, this instrument has
In modern societies, women and men can choose which musical instrument they want to play. In many cases, we find Rebetiko music formations consist of women, as shown in the pictures, in small shops. Throughout the history of Rebetiko, even if we could notice some differences in performances, in music, organology or interpretation of Rebetiko, it is rare for women to interpret bouzouki even to this day. It is perhaps the only essential and rebellious musical instrument that is considered to be the exclusive male, as it has been associated with the masculine presence of “magia.”
Furthermore, gender representation is consistent with the social structure and the gender stereotypes of the time. As mentioned above, all representatives of Rebetiko music have the chance to choose the period of Rebetiko music that expresses them, as well as the musical instrument of their preference. Rebetiko is no longer a place of identification with illegality. Performers of Rebetiko can perform in music scenes without being considered revolutionaries or criminals. Similarly, women are not identically associated with the lower social strata that promote free morals.
The interpreters of Rebetiko music express until today, mainly the working class. They perform musical pieces of an earlier period through a new scope. Music bands, nowadays, consist of both men and women. This is not evident in previous interpretations through the photographs. While in the past male performers definitions are presented of musical instruments and male singers, there is no evidence until the beginning of the 21st century of female musician performers. In small music scenes, women's bands appear, and female singers dominate compared to men. This action in itself implies a form of revolution that is linked to the social context and the feminist movement. The male-dominated area of the Rebetiko music scene also includes female music bands, even if the image of the male performer is still dominant.
3.3 The audience
As mentioned above, the audience and the performers of Rebetiko were mainly men of the working class who had a revolutionary character. So far, we have assumed that the genre has explicit references to the East and the corresponding cultural identity. It is contrary to the Western principles and the European identity that the higher social classes promote and impose.
