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.

The Greek consulate interpreted: the binding link.



 During my first week of my ph.d studies in St.Andrews, Scotland,  and while meeting with people who had just had their oral defense of their own ph.d, I became the recipient of a usual-according to anthropological standards-question: can you talk about  Greek culture? Can you see it as a whole?

Of course I can! My reply came in the most enthusiastic tone. My interlocutor was taken aback and the expression on his face showed his utmost shock! How can you do this? There is no culture seen as a coherent whole!

Well, according to my non-anthropological standards, there was! Shortly before flying to Scotland, I had read a newspaper article. It referred to Anthony Queen and his role in Zorba the Greek. The journalist ended by stressing the actor’s posture: open arms stretching to the right and the left in the usual Greek dancing style. He interpreted such a posture as the core essence of Greek culture: it encompassed and most proudly boasted Greeks’ attitude to life: “we are here and ready to deal with all ups and downs of life. We are brave and strong.”  I loved this interpretation and had this in mind when shocking my interlocutor in St. Andrews.

As soon as the course of my study unfolded ,I was to abandon this naïve attitude and view of a culture in its whole. Moreover, I was to adopt another concept in words as : fragments, vignettes, aspects… and to highlight:  pieces of, partial views of…..

This is what circumscribes anthropology in theory and practice. If one needs to see this in action, the Greek consulate of Los Angeles is an ideal place. There is no single sentence which can summarize all aspects of Greekness and attitudes met in this room: there is a variety of them: there is compliance, there is detachment, there is selectivity. The list is endless.

 Occupying a suite on the eleventh floor of a  high rising building on Wilshire Boulevard, with a spacious reception room, clients are “welcomed” by a small number of objects nicely placed all around the room, either standing or hanging on the walls. We need to interpret them as  fragments of embodied Greekness: here are symbols of the State, the Nation, its history. Here is the Greek flag, the European Flag, a shield bearing the stamp of the Greek Nation and the Greek consulate,  a photograph of the current Greek President of Democracy, pictures of ancient Greek sculptures, of  Greek Island “classic activities”(i.e: fishing) and here is an advertisement on a forthcoming exhibition. This is the visible part of the fragments of Greekness. Here is selectivity in the content of pictures and the place they are given on the walls.

Yet, there is another set of fragments: the tangible one: bureaucracy. Clients need to fill forms in, submit other forms or photocopies, show their Greek identities or passports, sign documents, collect new passports or stamped and signed forms and pay the amount due.

Entangled with paperwork is a number of attitudes which Greek migrants spontaneously display when summoned to fill forms in: there is puzzlement, phobias for making mistakes, doubts and wishes.  There is of course blame on bureaucracy for taking so long, impatience for the same reason  and there is anxiety about other processes which will  subsequently be held back.  Here is a detachment from and-at the same time- a struggle to comply with writing in Greek and in Greek ways: I saw people struggling to keep with the Greek way of writing a date- the opposite of the American way-and forcing themselves not to make mistakes.

Most of all, there is the auditory part which gives the best twist as fragment of Greekness in this room and refers to accent and vocabulary: there is Greek spoken clearly and correctly in Greek accent, there is  American accent in spoken Greek and there is a combination of Greek and English words in one sentence spoken either by men or women who have been living in this country for many years. Any anthropologist dealing with sociolinguistics will definitely find himself in a most happy moment: selection of words and phrases in Greek or in English signifies a symbolic attachment to Greekness or the effect of a life lived in the USA hence an inescapable effect of not mixing with Greeks and not speaking Greek every day? Or, is it a sign of forgetting? Is it maybe something else? How is such a selection of words seen by recipients? Is it condemned? Is it food for jokes and sarcasm?  The identity of the referee does set all this clear…

Finally, there is the socially experienced fragment, the “felt” fragment.  Greeks see other Greeks with whom they are familiar and there is a friendly chat while waiting for the documents. They catch up with each other, compare and contrast their experiences and talk about their relatives in Greece, their lives or death. Other times, random people, strangers but still Greeks engage in routine questions and answers concerning paperwork. Here is a strong feeling of attachment to family and friends at home. Here is an emerging attachment to another fragment of Greekness: ways of thinking and facing things. It suddenly feels as if all these people are not in Los Angeles but in Greece. Their commonsensical ways of commenting on life and death does seem out of place.

Employees, the majority of which are women, are admirably strict with details and rules. It is really worth noting the detail with which employees examine all documents, word for word, literally speaking. We were repeatedly told that documents and forms will delay the process, given that some of them have to be posted to Greece and back to Los Angeles. This focus on detail and accuracy is most needed when out of the country. I see it as a fortunate reversal of Greek civil servants’ attitudes to bureaucracy where speed reigns but accuracy is long lost.

While waiting, silently recording these interactions and trying not to stare at people, one has the unique opportunity of observing all such moments and  at the background, there is a busy employee managing phone calls and clients in Greek and in English.

Fragments of Greekness are practiced, imagined, visualized, spoken, felt. Greece becomes a far and a near place , past and future time, cultural practices, social relations, parents, land, buildings, inheritance… Each one of the clients displays several of these fragments to a lesser or greater extent and witnesses other people doing so.

How can we not then turn to and see the role  of bureaucracy in binding these images up? Instead of blaming bureaucracy we owe a small praise to it for giving people opportunities to publicly  unfold fragments of Greekness and, more important, allow for them to  be observed …

Words of wisdom