Musical Visions presents a unique way of thinking about and debating the many facets of contemporary popular music. Under the theme of music as sound, image and movement, this book brings together a vibrant range of perspectives.

The Greek diaspora is one of the paradigmatic historical diasporas. Though some trace its origins to ancient Greek colonies, it is really a more modern phenomenon. Diaspora, exile and immigration represent three successive phases in Modern Greek history and they are useful vantage points from which to analyse changes in Greek society, politics and culture over the last three centuries. Embracing a wide range of case studies, this volume charts the role of territorial displacements as social and cultural agents from the eighteenth century to the present day and examines their impact on communities, politics, institutional attitudes and culture. By studying migratory trends the aim is to map out the transformation of Greece from a largely homogenous society with a high proportion of emigrants to a more diverse society inundated by immigrants after the end of the Cold War. The originality of this book lies in the bringing together of diaspora, exile and immigration and its focus on developments both inside and outside Greece.

Winner of the 2019 Vasiliki Karagiannaki Prize for the Best Edited Volume in Modern Greek Studies Contributions by Tina Bucuvalas, Anna Caraveli, Aydin Chaloupka, Sotirios (Sam) Chianis, Frank Desby, Stavros K. Frangos, Stathis Gauntlett, Joseph G. Graziosi, Gail Holst-Warhaft, Michael G. Kaloyanides, Panayotis League, Roderick Conway Morris, National Endowment for the Arts/National Heritage Fellows, Nick Pappas, Meletios Pouliopoulos, Anthony Shay, David Soffa, Dick Spottswood, Jim Stoynoff, and Anna Lomax Wood Despite a substantial artistic legacy, there has never been a book devoted to Greek music in America until now. Those seeking to learn about this vibrant and exciting music were forced to seek out individual essays, often published in obscure or ephemeral sources. This volume provides a singular platform for understanding the scope, practice, and development of Greek music in America through essays and profiles written by principal scholars in the field. Greece developed a rich variety of traditional, popular, and art music that diasporic Greeks brought with them to America. In Greek American communities, music was and continues to be an essential component of most social activities. Music links the past to the present, the distant to the near, and bonds the community with an embrace of memories and narrative. From 1896 to 1942, more than a thousand Greek recordings in many genres were made in the United States, and thousands more have appeared since then. These encompass not only Greek traditional music from all regions, but also emerging urban genres, stylistic changes, and new songs of social commentary. Greek Music in America includes essays on all of these topics as well as history and genre, places and venues, the recording business, and profiles of individual musicians. This book is required reading for anyone who cares about Greek music in America, whether scholar, fan, or performer.

Karagiozis—a form of comic folk drama employing stock puppet figures—was immensely popular in Greece until recent years, when newer forms of entertainment have virtually eclipsed it. Derived from ancient Byzantine and Greek sources, it takes its name from the principal puppet character, the clever, humpbacked fool-hero Karagiozis, who appears in many guises, surrounded by a cast of folk caricatures from all walks of life. Kostas and Linda Myrsiades present here a tripartite view of Karagiozis: a translation of a typical text taken directly from a live performance; interviews with one of the last master Karagiozis puppeteers; and an analysis of the place of this indigenous genre in Greek life and culture. The first part of the book examines critical issues concerning the context of Karagiozis performance: its place as an expression of an unofficial social world, as a gender statement that reveals the split vision of its culture, as an expression of a pluralistic society, and as an indigenous event shaped by economic, geographic, political, and social forces. The second portion offers insights from interviews with Giorgos Haridimos, until his retirement Greece's preemi-nent Karagiozis player, and a translation of his classic text "Karagiozis Baker" reflecting an actual performance by Haridimos. Through novel verbal and typographic devices, Kostas Myrsiades succeeds in preserving the full flavor of his oral source—its rhythms and intonations, its linguistic nuances, and even audience reactions—to convey the actual experience of the theatergoer. This unique translation thus establishes a model for collecting and disseminating oral theatrical tradition. Folklorists, cultural historians, and students of theater will appreciate this introduction to an ancient but little known folkloric form.

The contributors explore the intimate relationships between music & gender, across the wide range of cultures around the Mediterranean. Essays examine musical behaviour as representation, assertion, & transgression of gender identities, compare gender roles & discuss issues of ethnicity & religion.

Ties to the Homeland examines the connections maintained across national borders by the children of migrants, the “second generation.” In the context of globalisation and increasing population mobility, migrants’ transnational ties have become an important topic of research, yet until recently we have heard little about the reproduction of such ties in the second generation. The transnational engagements of migrants’ children are crucial for understanding future trends in the global movement of people, money, goods and ideas, and they also can have a significant impact on issues of cultural identity and “belonging” for these children, who grow up outside their parents’ homelands but may have dual or even multiple notions of “home.” The detailed case studies in Tie to the Homeland explore the diverse transnational practices and attitudes of members of the second generation and reveal significant intergenerational differences that bring into question some of the key assumptions underlying existing work on transnationalism. The case studies focus on the children of migrants originating in regions such as Europe, the Middle East and the South Pacific, and they bring an Australian perspective to a field that has been dominated by a European and North American focus.

Emphasizing stylistic analysis and historical development, this unique book is the first to examine all major non-Western music styles, from reggae and salsa to the popular musics of non-Western Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.