Photo essays on Halloween (5): R. I. P

  Halloween is only a few hours away and, on the one hand people are shopping and preparing for the "trick or treat" game, while, on the other stores are rushing to remove all  Halloween paraphernalia and replace them with Christmas decoration.

 Within the framework of time, let me give some more aspects of decoration for this feast.  My guide, J. Santino  talks about representations of death and underworld. Walking around West Los Angeles avenues I have seen that this is the most famous topic of and for decoration.  Most front garden and front doors are decorated with such a wide range of objects that is not easy to represent in a few posts here. So I shall limit myself to some photographs which cover the following views: a1) cardboard whole skeletons (whether in stores or gardens or pavement trees)   a2) skeletons covered in cloth b) human skeleton parts scattered here and there or hanging from trees c)the most famous R.I.P ,which apparently stands for: rest in pieces. The R..I.P inscription is oftentimes replaced by some verses.

Any observations on the carnivalesque as analysed by M.Bakhtin and meaning the turning of world upside down are more than successfully applied in this feast....

 

Here are a few samples from cases a1 , a2 and b.



Photo essays on Halloween (4): Jack-o'- lantern -part 2.

Here are photographs from sections c and d as stated in the last post, namely material and uses: Jack-o'-lantern in material other than wood and more elaborate drawings  and the carved squash used for garden decoration.

                                                                                     

Photo essays on Halloween (3): jack o' lantern

Today's series of posts are dedicated to a central figure of Halloween: the carved as (or painted) jack- o' -lantern squash. Jack Santino, my main source of reference as is shown in these posts, considers the carved squash as: " personal statements made in a participatory group or community situation, using culturally valued and shared symbols, most of which are centuries old".(p.2)  In his paper, Santino refers to different interpretations of the pumpkin, from nostalgia about rural life to the story of Jack as is best known in Europe and hence extended meanings to cover life and death. Santino writes:  "The pumpkin is carved and given a face. This is especially obvious when the jack-o'-lantern is seen in the dark, lit by a candle within. It then takes on a much more eerie, ambivalent, and frightening demeanor. Other than by carving, the pumpkin is transformed by means of painting or by using other vegetables as appendages. Houses may feature cutouts and paper representations of the jack-o'-lantern, either homemade or store bought, and of other Halloween figures as well. In fact, the transformation of pumpkin into jack-o'-lantern also extends to the growing number of "harvest figures," which may or may not be built upon a vegetable or organic base" (pp 15-16).  He also stresses : "a cultural act is performed upon the vegetable: it is carved into a jack-o'-lantern, given an identity, and is thus connected to the other- world and the supernatural. The jack-o'-lantern, as we have seen, is one of a number of marginal creatures associated with death and the underworld[..]" (p. 16).

 

 Having received such information from European lore and anthropological interpretations, let us wander around stores and front garden decorations and record as wide a range as possible in which jack-o'-lantern appears. I have divided my own photographs to several  sections: a)postcards b) wood carved to jack-o'-lantern c) other material and elaborate forms d) public displays in gardens.

 

Here follow sections a and b

Photo essays on Halloween (2): bringing nature to culture

Jack Santino (1983: 15) writes on ideas that shape Halloween decorations, as I briefly stated in my last post. I am here taking the issue up and will illustrate one of his points. My material comes from West Los Angeles.

Santino touches on issues that have been concerning folklorists and anthropologists and on which they have been observing and publishing their works. One such issue refers to nature and culture. Santino talks about decorations picked from a natural environment and then carried to a built environment, such as pumkins, apples and vegetables. He talks about journeys that people make- or used to make- to the countryside in order to buy  fruits and vegetables and then display them:
 

"What has happened, then, is the following: people from a built en vironment travel into a relatively natural environment, return with a physical embodiment of that natural environment, and display it as part of their built environment. We can see here a dichotomy of rural and urban, natural and built, and, ultimately, of nature versus culture. Bringing the pumpkins and the corn back into the city represents a movement to bring nature into, and display it as part of, culture.The tasteful, aesthetic arranging and displaying of these fruits and vegetables is in itself a cultural act ."

 

Walking around West Los Angeles and observing Halloween decorations, I could not but notice an additional object of decoration which is not mentioned in Santino's text. Scarecrows are very rare and as such they can attract attention. I would here like to add another view of nature brought to culture within the context of Halloween seen as harvest time and perhaps question the clear dichotomies that Santino sees. Scarecrows are also symbols of and for a safe harvest, they are symbols of and for peoples' struggle against nature, they are peoples' emotional investments in their sustenance. Bringing such  man- made objects for display into an urban environment is also  a cultural act, one which includes negotiated relationships between nature and culture....

 

 

 

 

 



Photo essays on Halloween (1): Halloween as harvest...

 "Halloween in America: contemporary customs and performances" was written by Jack Santino and published  in Western Folklore journal in 1983.  Despite its age, the article is rich in information concerning Halloween, symbolisms, objects and peoples' participation in America. To non- Americans like myself, it serves as a very good introduction to this celebration and covers a variety of topics directly related to the feast.

I have been observing peoples' preparations since early September in Los Angeles. I have thus been taking photographs  in order to obtain as much a detailed image as possible. What I shall then unfold in this post as well as the forthcoming ones are images of  Halloween decorations as applying to ideas of Santino's article.

This post focuses on a key feature: pumpkins. Photographs were taken while shopping and date as early as mid- September and as late as last week.

  

Internal communications on public display

Internal communications is an exciting topic to lecture on to undergraduate students, especially if one holds a background other than communications itself. Excitement lies in the process of discovering a ground on which interdisciplinarity can best be practiced and keep within it.
I thus consider myself lucky to have lectured on this topic while coming from a social anthropology background. I am still intrigued by the nexus of relations which can be traced and studied within internal communications.
What, however, can be even more fascinating is the possibility of communicating employee relations-as is internal communications also known- to the public: crossing the dividing line between internal and external communications. I find it fascinating as I hold a poor experience in witnessing this crossing of lines.It is one thing studying such practices, analysing them, reproducing or criticising theories and another one seeing things in action. And there is always the question: to what extent do companies really practice internal communication?  to what extent are they really interested in their human capital and its advantage? Case studies come from all sides and point to remarkable differences in the ways internal communication works to employees' (and the companies') benefits.
Within this framework, I could not but stop in front of the wall which lies behing all checkouts of a big store. I felt captured by the note: employee of the month, under which came the photographs of employees and a few personal details. There was space left for additional photographs and the line was good at length. Lacking time, I could not ask for information about the company practices and the criteria on which they nominate the employee of the month. So, I can see these photographs as enclosing longer or shorter stories of selection, nomination,some kind of small celebration taking place or announcements to other members of staff, followed up by the idea of posting peoples' photographs on a particular board and for public display.
Photographs as epitomies of workplace relations can transmit many messages to employees and to customers alike so I shall not indulge in such a query. I am only eagerly expecting to see a new face taking its place on this board : one message after all is that there is space for everyone ....



Violating sounds: Mixing Greek ....

The orthodox church of Agia Sophia in Los Angeles , seen as a socially lived place is always taking me by surprise.  I am not a regular member of the congregation, hence not fully adapted to the ways in which orthodoxy is performed, received and followed by priests and faithful orthodox people alike.

Given this condition under which I currently find myself, I go to church bearing Greek orthodox liturgies in mind and the conventions they have to follow. Any subversion of  these conventions as well as added elements-mostly met as prayers or confessions- interrupt the flow of the liturgy and expand it in time as well as in space. To be more precise, my first surprise came upon the performance of the so-called: kissing of peace: I heard the priest summoning the congregation to a confession: “Let us love one another. Christ is in our midst…”. In these words people turn to each other, hug ,kiss each other or shake hands firmly while repeating those last words.  People turn to their right, to the left and to their back. That was an expansion of the liturgy in space the fulfillment of which was a proof of the faith of the congregation and their  co-ordination with the priest’s words and deeds.

If I can further describe other surprises which I experienced in Agia Sophia church as expansions in time through the use of sounds, I would single today’s experience out as the most controversial one.

The psalt (the singer) was about to perform the apostle reading, which precedes the Gospel. My friend suddenly turned to me and said: “listen to this: he is going to read it in Modern Greek language”. I felt as if a strong sea wave had come upon me and thrust me backwards.

I listened to the reading. The language was a mixture of modern Greek with some original forms of the apostle reading (words and phrases) scattered here and there all throughout. Even though  the meaning of the  text was much clearer in this form, I found myself working not towards a translation-as I would do had the original form being read- but towards a struggle of my memory to reproduce the original version. I could not catch up with time and the psalt’s speed so I gave up. Asking for a feedback, my friend heard me saying: “I am not sure this version  is better than the original text”.

If we consider  up- to- date Modern Greek as the spoken and written version which dominated   twentieth century  to this very day, the temporal dimension is quite clearly defined. On the other hand, the liturgy was written  in an older version of the language and so were the Gospels. The space of the liturgy is the space occupied exclusively by the older version.  Each version of the Greek language has a specific space, keeps its own way and these ways are parallel to each other. They never meet.

Not until today-at least as far as I am concerned. Today, modern Greek was to replace the older version for as long as the apostle reading lasted. Modern Greek language was projected onto an older version of it. Moreover, I thought that the psalt had temporarily suspended his role:  I could hear a Greek (and not a psalt) speaking in modern Greek for some minutes and then switching to the original form of the liturgy (switching  back to his role as a psalt).  How can this be compatible with all other parts of the liturgy sung in their original form or in English?

I felt as if I had been deprived of the value of linguistic forms and versions by experiencing this expansion in time. The issue is not so much about the meaning of the text as it is about the value of the form and its  exclusive use so as  to signify a specific practice. It is, after all, a matter of keeping with the suitability of sounds in particular settings and moments.