To Dance or not to Dance: Dancing Dilemmas in a Border Region in Northern Greece

Year 2020, Issue: 7, 232 - 248, 15.12.2020

Ioannis Manos Translator: Bahar Dilara Semiz

https://doi.org/10.46250/kulturder.829784

Abstract

The imposition of totalizing national ideologies in the Florina region of northwestern border of Greece in end of the 1880's has led to the construction of several categories of belonging. The categories of belonging became varied with the migrations. Members of these categories looked for ways to protect their identity in the face of political balances that have changed over the years. The dance was one of the ways that individuals showed which group they belonged to. Dance had an important role in the process of identity formation in the region in the nineteenth century. In the mid-twentieth century, dance took on different meanings in the region by the various individuals and institutions. In the Florina region, home to many ethnically diverse groups, Dopioi using the Slavic language became the object of various political movements in the 1990’s. As a result of these political movements, dance activities began to be perceived as a means of being Greek or Macedonian. The fact that the dance took on a political dimension in the context of the Dopioi people brought the members of this group face to face with the dilemma of to dance or not to dance. Despite this, the attitude of Dopioi in the region shows that, despite all factors, groups adopt identities that provide them with a space for freedom or offer more than other identities.

Keywords

Dance, Identity, National Ideologies, Florina Region, Greek

Dans Etmek ya da Etmemek: Kuzey Yunanistan Sınırında Dans İkilemi

Abstract

Yunanistan’ın kuzeybatı sınırındaki Florina bölgesinde, 1800’lerin sonundan itibaren milliyetçiliğin bütüncül dayatmaları çeşitli aidiyet grupları oluşturdu. Aidiyet kategorileri 1920’lerdeki göçlerle çeşitlendi. Bu kategorilerin üyeleri yıllar içinde değişen politik dengelerin karşısında kimliklerini muhafaza etmenin yollarını aradı. Bireylerin hangi gruba ait olduklarını göstermelerinin yollarından biri de danstı. 19. yüzyılda dans, bölgedeki kimlik oluşum sürecinde önemli rol oynadı. 20. yüzyılın ortalarında ise çeşitli kişiler ve kurumlar aracılığıyla dans bölgede farklı anlamlar kazandı. Etnik açıdan birçok farklı gruba ev sahipliği yapan Florina bölgesinde, Slav dilini kullanan Dopioiler 1990’larda çeşitli siyasi hareketlerin nesnesi haline geldiler. Bu siyasi hareketler sonucunda ise dans etkinlikleri Yunan ya da Makedon olmayı gösteren birer araç olarak algılanmaya başlandı. Dansın Dopioi halkı bağlamında politik bir boyut kazanması bu grubun üyelerini dans etmek ya da etmemek ikilemiyle yüz yüze getirdi. Buna rağmen Dopioilerin bölgedeki duruşu her türlü etkene karşın grupların kendilerine özgürlük alanı sağlayan ya da diğer kimliklerden fazlasını sunan kimlikleri benimsediklerini göstermektedir.

Keywords

Dans, Kimlik, Milliyetçi İdeolojiler, Florina bölgesi, Yunan

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