Maria Couroucli | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research (original) (raw)

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Papers by Maria Couroucli

University of California Press eBooks, Dec 30, 2010

L'Homme, 2005

This paper revisits the theme of animal categories and verbal abuse and explores the frontier the... more This paper revisits the theme of animal categories and verbal abuse and explores the frontier theme in anthropology by examining the uses of the « Dog » category in modern Greek. It attempts to explore how « Dog » is metonymically used for « Other » and how this establishes a difference and legitimates violence between symbolically distinct social groups. It further examines how enemies are considered impure and vice versa by tracing the ways the insult « Dog! » is used as a way to reject the Other among both Muslims and Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean. This animal category remains nevertheless liminal, ambiguous, never achieving complete separation from human nature.

Indiana University Press eBooks, 2012

Good fences make good neighbors, the old adage tells us, but on the other hand sharing and intera... more Good fences make good neighbors, the old adage tells us, but on the other hand sharing and interacting with one's neighbors, rather than excluding them, are activities that contribute to the essence of neighborliness. Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has received equal parts commendation and ridicule for his adopted policy of "zero problems with neighbors," and it can hardly be claimed that the neighborhood of the eastern Mediterranean is a happy one at present. Popular consensus would have it that the Levant is a region of unbridgeable divides and polarised communities, antagonistic to and incompatible with each other due to hardwired intolerance and enduring "ancient hatreds." Proponents of such a contention can point to a litany of events within living memory-enduring hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians, the Lebanese Civil War, the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, conflicts arising out of the Arab Spring-and claim "it was ever thus." Certain Western pundits may cast an Orientalist perspective on intercommunal strife in the Levant-such events would never happen in the "secular," "civilised," "advanced" West, they may claim-but it is an irony that the source of much of the strife is the pursuit of homogeneity-uniformity of language, religion and identity-that is a hallmark of the nation-state, an idea imported wholesale from the West. This irony is compounded by the fact that interethnic discord can only arise in the first place because indigenous ethnoreligious diversity-something that has been largely eradicated in the West-is still a reality in the Levant. Yet for all of the strife at the macro geo-political level that attracts the media spotlight, it is still the case that at a personal level intercommunal interaction occurs on a daily basis in the Levant. And for all the nation-building projects during the last century that were intent on molding and clearly demarcating traditions and distinct nations along ethno-religious lines, boundaries remain blurred and there remain overlaps where rituals, customs, religious practices and sacred sites are shared between different communities. Indeed, devotional practices, generally regarded as the starkest definitional markers separating communities, often provide the spaces that best allow intercommunal and interfaith contact. Sharing Sacred Spaces in the Mediterranean: Christians, Muslims and

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2020

Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022

École française d’Athènes eBooks, 2008

La figure du berger dans les Balkans est traditionnellement associée au passé national et plus pr... more La figure du berger dans les Balkans est traditionnellement associée au passé national et plus précisément aux mythes d'origine de chacun des peuples devenus Etats-nations après la chute de l'Empire ottoman. Or, les travaux récents de géographie et d'ethnologie ...

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Apr 28, 2022

CNRS Éditions eBooks, 2002

Les nouvelles formes de nationalisme dans les Balkans, telles qu’elles sont apparues depuis le dé... more Les nouvelles formes de nationalisme dans les Balkans, telles qu’elles sont apparues depuis le début de la guerre en ex-Yougoslavie, semblent concerner en premier lieu des groupes ethniques qui mettent en question la souveraineté des nations dans le sens politique du terme. Les théories d’Anthony Smith sur les origines ethniques des nations, et notamment l’idée que la nation porte en elle le germe de sa propre destruction, trouvent ici un exemple convaincant. Un des indices de l’importance du..

Επιθεώρηση Κοινωνικών Ερευνών, 1981

Il s' agit d'une exploration des discours nationaux dans le monde Balkanique, où nation... more Il s' agit d'une exploration des discours nationaux dans le monde Balkanique, où nationalisme et populisme furent longtemps des éléments du discours des élites nationales. Suivant l'évolution de l'identité communautaire de la" nation" grecque orthodoxe (Rum ...

Axe sur l’espace de la Mediterranee (des Balkans a l’Egypte), l’ouvrage aborde trois questions : ... more Axe sur l’espace de la Mediterranee (des Balkans a l’Egypte), l’ouvrage aborde trois questions : - Le role de l’Etat comme agent de production du nationalisme a travers les elites, les institutions, les ideologies.- La problematique de l’ethnicite et des logiques communautaires a l’interieur des Etats de la Mediterranee orientale.- L’articulation entre nationalisme et transnationalite (qu’elle s’exprime par les diasporas « classiques » ou a travers les communautes immigrees).

Οι συναντήσeις της eλληνικής µe τη γαλλική ιστοριογραφία, από τη Μeταπολίτeυση ώς σήµeρα, φαίνeτα... more Οι συναντήσeις της eλληνικής µe τη γαλλική ιστοριογραφία, από τη Μeταπολίτeυση ώς σήµeρα, φαίνeται να αποτeλούν κeντρικό κeφάλαιο της µeλέτης διαµόρφωσης της eλληνικής ιστοριογραφίας τα τeλeυταία 50 χρόνια. Οι µισοί πeρίπου από τους σηµeρινούς µόνιµους διδάσκοντeς και eρeυνητές που ασχολούνται µe τη Νeότeρη και Σύγχρονη Ιστορία στα τµήµατα Ιστορίας των eλληνικών πανeπιστηµίων και στο Κέντρο Νeοeλληνικών Eρeυνών του Eθνικού Ιδρύµατος Eρeυνών, δηλώνουν µeταπτυχιακές σπουδές στη Γαλλία. Το κeίμeνο αυτό eξeτάζeι την διαμόρφωση της νέας ιστορίας όπως την οραματίστηκαν οι "Eλληνeς του Παρισιού" και υποστηρίζeι ότι αποτeλeί μιά συνeιδητή προσπάθeια διαμόρφωσης eθνικής ιστορίας που αποφeύγeι συστηματικά τη συγκριτική σκέψη και την διeπιστημονικότητα. Μe άλλα λόγια, πρόκeιται για μιά νέα eλληνοκeντρική ιστορία που έρχeται σe ρήξη (θα δούμe πως) μe την παραδοσιακή "αστική" ιστοριογραφία.

This paper addresses issues surrounding the accessibility of 'sensitive' archives in Gree... more This paper addresses issues surrounding the accessibility of 'sensitive' archives in Greece during three different and successive periods of the twentieth century (1910-1974, 1974-1989, and 1990 to date). During all these periods it has been hard and complicated for historians to call into question the official narratives without provoking political and journalistic pressure, sometimes even outright aggression and persecution by state authorities. The paper explores the legal, political and social aspects of the question.

University of California Press eBooks, Dec 30, 2010

L'Homme, 2005

This paper revisits the theme of animal categories and verbal abuse and explores the frontier the... more This paper revisits the theme of animal categories and verbal abuse and explores the frontier theme in anthropology by examining the uses of the « Dog » category in modern Greek. It attempts to explore how « Dog » is metonymically used for « Other » and how this establishes a difference and legitimates violence between symbolically distinct social groups. It further examines how enemies are considered impure and vice versa by tracing the ways the insult « Dog! » is used as a way to reject the Other among both Muslims and Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean. This animal category remains nevertheless liminal, ambiguous, never achieving complete separation from human nature.

Indiana University Press eBooks, 2012

Good fences make good neighbors, the old adage tells us, but on the other hand sharing and intera... more Good fences make good neighbors, the old adage tells us, but on the other hand sharing and interacting with one's neighbors, rather than excluding them, are activities that contribute to the essence of neighborliness. Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has received equal parts commendation and ridicule for his adopted policy of "zero problems with neighbors," and it can hardly be claimed that the neighborhood of the eastern Mediterranean is a happy one at present. Popular consensus would have it that the Levant is a region of unbridgeable divides and polarised communities, antagonistic to and incompatible with each other due to hardwired intolerance and enduring "ancient hatreds." Proponents of such a contention can point to a litany of events within living memory-enduring hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians, the Lebanese Civil War, the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, conflicts arising out of the Arab Spring-and claim "it was ever thus." Certain Western pundits may cast an Orientalist perspective on intercommunal strife in the Levant-such events would never happen in the "secular," "civilised," "advanced" West, they may claim-but it is an irony that the source of much of the strife is the pursuit of homogeneity-uniformity of language, religion and identity-that is a hallmark of the nation-state, an idea imported wholesale from the West. This irony is compounded by the fact that interethnic discord can only arise in the first place because indigenous ethnoreligious diversity-something that has been largely eradicated in the West-is still a reality in the Levant. Yet for all of the strife at the macro geo-political level that attracts the media spotlight, it is still the case that at a personal level intercommunal interaction occurs on a daily basis in the Levant. And for all the nation-building projects during the last century that were intent on molding and clearly demarcating traditions and distinct nations along ethno-religious lines, boundaries remain blurred and there remain overlaps where rituals, customs, religious practices and sacred sites are shared between different communities. Indeed, devotional practices, generally regarded as the starkest definitional markers separating communities, often provide the spaces that best allow intercommunal and interfaith contact. Sharing Sacred Spaces in the Mediterranean: Christians, Muslims and

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2020

Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022

École française d’Athènes eBooks, 2008

La figure du berger dans les Balkans est traditionnellement associée au passé national et plus pr... more La figure du berger dans les Balkans est traditionnellement associée au passé national et plus précisément aux mythes d'origine de chacun des peuples devenus Etats-nations après la chute de l'Empire ottoman. Or, les travaux récents de géographie et d'ethnologie ...

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Apr 28, 2022

CNRS Éditions eBooks, 2002

Les nouvelles formes de nationalisme dans les Balkans, telles qu’elles sont apparues depuis le dé... more Les nouvelles formes de nationalisme dans les Balkans, telles qu’elles sont apparues depuis le début de la guerre en ex-Yougoslavie, semblent concerner en premier lieu des groupes ethniques qui mettent en question la souveraineté des nations dans le sens politique du terme. Les théories d’Anthony Smith sur les origines ethniques des nations, et notamment l’idée que la nation porte en elle le germe de sa propre destruction, trouvent ici un exemple convaincant. Un des indices de l’importance du..

Επιθεώρηση Κοινωνικών Ερευνών, 1981

Il s' agit d'une exploration des discours nationaux dans le monde Balkanique, où nation... more Il s' agit d'une exploration des discours nationaux dans le monde Balkanique, où nationalisme et populisme furent longtemps des éléments du discours des élites nationales. Suivant l'évolution de l'identité communautaire de la" nation" grecque orthodoxe (Rum ...

Axe sur l’espace de la Mediterranee (des Balkans a l’Egypte), l’ouvrage aborde trois questions : ... more Axe sur l’espace de la Mediterranee (des Balkans a l’Egypte), l’ouvrage aborde trois questions : - Le role de l’Etat comme agent de production du nationalisme a travers les elites, les institutions, les ideologies.- La problematique de l’ethnicite et des logiques communautaires a l’interieur des Etats de la Mediterranee orientale.- L’articulation entre nationalisme et transnationalite (qu’elle s’exprime par les diasporas « classiques » ou a travers les communautes immigrees).

Οι συναντήσeις της eλληνικής µe τη γαλλική ιστοριογραφία, από τη Μeταπολίτeυση ώς σήµeρα, φαίνeτα... more Οι συναντήσeις της eλληνικής µe τη γαλλική ιστοριογραφία, από τη Μeταπολίτeυση ώς σήµeρα, φαίνeται να αποτeλούν κeντρικό κeφάλαιο της µeλέτης διαµόρφωσης της eλληνικής ιστοριογραφίας τα τeλeυταία 50 χρόνια. Οι µισοί πeρίπου από τους σηµeρινούς µόνιµους διδάσκοντeς και eρeυνητές που ασχολούνται µe τη Νeότeρη και Σύγχρονη Ιστορία στα τµήµατα Ιστορίας των eλληνικών πανeπιστηµίων και στο Κέντρο Νeοeλληνικών Eρeυνών του Eθνικού Ιδρύµατος Eρeυνών, δηλώνουν µeταπτυχιακές σπουδές στη Γαλλία. Το κeίμeνο αυτό eξeτάζeι την διαμόρφωση της νέας ιστορίας όπως την οραματίστηκαν οι "Eλληνeς του Παρισιού" και υποστηρίζeι ότι αποτeλeί μιά συνeιδητή προσπάθeια διαμόρφωσης eθνικής ιστορίας που αποφeύγeι συστηματικά τη συγκριτική σκέψη και την διeπιστημονικότητα. Μe άλλα λόγια, πρόκeιται για μιά νέα eλληνοκeντρική ιστορία που έρχeται σe ρήξη (θα δούμe πως) μe την παραδοσιακή "αστική" ιστοριογραφία.

This paper addresses issues surrounding the accessibility of 'sensitive' archives in Gree... more This paper addresses issues surrounding the accessibility of 'sensitive' archives in Greece during three different and successive periods of the twentieth century (1910-1974, 1974-1989, and 1990 to date). During all these periods it has been hard and complicated for historians to call into question the official narratives without provoking political and journalistic pressure, sometimes even outright aggression and persecution by state authorities. The paper explores the legal, political and social aspects of the question.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2012

While devotional practices are usually viewed as mechanisms for reinforcing religious boundaries,... more While devotional practices are usually viewed as mechanisms for reinforcing religious boundaries, in the multicultural, multiconfessional world of the Eastern Mediterranean, shared shrines sustain intercommunal and interreligious contact among groups. Heterodox, marginal, and largely ignored by central authorities, these practices persist despite aggressive, homogenizing nationalist movements. This volume challenges much of the received wisdom concerning the three major monotheistic religions and the "clash of civilizations." Contributors examine intertwined religious traditions along the shores of the Near East from North Africa to the Balkans.