2013.10 Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Journal of Literature and Art Studies
Volume 3, Number 10, October 2013 (Serial Number 23)
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Publication Information: Journal of Literature and Art Studies is published monthly in hard copy (ISSN 2159-5836) and online (ISSN 2159-5844) by David Publishing Company located at 16710 East Johnson Drive, City of Industry, CA 91745, USA Aims and Scope: Journal of Literature and Art Studies, a monthly professional academic journal, covers all sorts of researches on literature studies, art theory, appreciation of arts, culture and history of arts and other latest findings and achievements from experts and scholars all over the world. Editorial Board Members: Eric J. Abbey, Oakland Community College, USA Andrea Greenbaum, Barry University, USA Punam Madhok, East Carolina University, USA Carolina Conte, Jacksonville University, USA Maya Zalbidea Paniagua, Universidad La Salle, Madrid, Spain Mary Harden, Western Oregon University, USA Lisa Socrates, University of London, United Kingdom Herman Jiesamfoek, City University of New York, USA Maria OConnell, Texas Tech University, USA Manuscripts and correspondence are invited for publication. You can submit your papers via Web Submission, or E-mail to literature.art@davidpublishing.org, art.literature@yahoo.com. Submission guidelines and Web Submission system are available at http://www.davidpublishing.org, www.davidpublishing.com. Editorial Office: 16710 East Johnson Drive, City of Industry, CA 91745, USA Tel: 1-323-984-7526, 323-410-1082 Fax: 1-323-984-7374, 323-908-0457 E-mail: literature.art@davidpublishing.org, art.literature@yahoo.com Copyright2013 by David Publishing Company and individual contributors. All rights reserved. David Publishing Company holds the exclusive copyright of all the contents of this journal. In accordance with the international convention, no part of this journal may be reproduced or transmitted by any media or publishing organs (including various websites) without the written permission of the copyright holder. Otherwise, any conduct would be considered as the violation of the copyright. The contents of this journal are available for any citation, however, all the citations should be clearly indicated with the title of this journal, serial number and the name of the author. Abstracted/Indexed in: Database of EBSCO, Massachusetts, USA Chinese Database of CEPS, Airiti Inc. & OCLC Chinese Scientific Journals Database, VIP Corporation, Chongqing, P.R.C. Ulrichs Periodicals Directory LLBA Database of ProQuest Summon Serials Solutions Subscription Information: Price (per year): Print $420 Online $300 Print and Online $560 David Publishing Company 16710 East Johnson Drive, City of Industry, CA 91745, USA Tel: 1-323-984-7526, 323-410-1082. Fax: 1-323-984-7374, 323-908-0457 E-mail: order@davidpublishing.com
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DA VID PUBLISHING
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Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Volume 3, Number 10, October 2013 (Serial Number 23)
Contents
Literature Studies
Confucian Thoughts in Ezra Pounds The Pisan Cantos WANG Gui-ming When Gods Cry: Exploring Environmental Crisis Through Literature Inspired by the Indigenous Peoples Experience Genevieve Jorolan-Quintero 611 601
Art Studies
Zdenk Fibichs opera Hedy as a Czech Tristan Between Wagnerism and Verismo Ji Kopeck Dance and Negotiation of Identity: A Case Study From Northern Greece Panopoulou Kaliopi, Douma Maria, Papakostas Christos Gothic Heritage in Renaissance Mantua Giulio Girondi 640 629 617
Special Research
Innovation in Choreography of Leonid Yakobson Rita Spalva The Politicisation of Arab Theatre: Sad Allah Wannus Abdulaziz H. Al-Abdullah Virtual Classroom in the CloudTransnational Scandinavian Teaching With Digital Technology Ove Christensen 669 663 657
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, ISSN 2159-5836 October 2013, Vol. 3, No. 10, 601-610
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Confucian Thoughts in Ezra Pounds The Pisan Cantos

WANG Gui-ming
Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
The Pisan Cantos (1948), Ezra Pounds great epic, which reflects major social, cultural, and historical themes, is based on Western and Chinese cultures, especially Chinese Confucian thoughts. This paper attempts to provide an analysis of Confucian classics and Chinese characters/ideograms as cited in The Pisan Cantos, and to present the unique way in which Pound expresses his emotions and enriches his poetic art. Since, Chinese culture that emphases such concepts as benevolence and sincerity offers a more philosophical and poetical foundation to the cantos, it is understandable that The Pisan Cantos embodies Pounds ambition to reestablish the war-ruined Western world by Chinese Confucian thoughts, which he regards as an important foundation stone for establishing an idealistic regime. Keywords: Ezra Pound, The Pisan Cantos, Confucian thoughts, The Book of Four, Chinese ideogram
Introduction
Pounds original intention for his poetic creation was to attenuate a history of Western civilization in poetic form (Nolde, 1984, p. 17). He expected The Cantos (1987) to be a morality tale and a mirror for people in the future to understand the truth of history. Therefore, in the opening Cantos, which were much influenced by Homers Odyssey (1997) and Dantes Divine Comedy (1555), he illustrated some major events of self-destruction in Western history with similar themes to James Joyces Ulysses (1922) and T. S. Elliots The Waste Land (1922). Because of Pounds early exposure to Chinese literature and philosophy through translating or adopting Chinese poetry and Confucian classics, the influence of Chinese culture on his poetic creation is visible as early as in 1915 with Cathay and Canto XIII of The Cantos. Pound was impressed by the sage-king conception of Confucius, from which he got to know what a wise emperor was like, what the situation of ancient Chinese civilization was like, and why Chinese feudal institution was able to last so long. After basically comprehending The Four Books (i.e., Great Learning , The Dialectics of Confucius , The Doctrine of the Mean (or The Middle Way) and Mencius ; they are, according to Pounds terms, The Great Digest or Ta Hsio, The Dialects, Unwobbling Pivot, and Mencius), he came to be a believer of Confucian thoughts. That may be the reason why in The Pisan Cantos (1948) Pound quoted more than fifty fragments from Confucian classics. Pound praised highly the governance theory with the values of Confucian philosophy and ethics, and believed that this system of benevolent politics and capable governance can be taken as the very foundation for establishing a Utopia. As early as in 1928, when being asked by T. S.
Note: The author died of illness on October 4, 2013. WANG Gui-ming, Ph.D., professor at School of Foreign Languages, Beijing Institute of Technology.
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CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS
Elliot what Mr. Pound believes in, Pound responded with little hesitation, I believe in the Ta Hio (Nolde, 1984, p. 19). There after, Pounds thinking integrated with the Confucian thoughts and there are more elements of Chinese culture can be found in his poetry.
Confucian Philosophy and The Cantos

Pound managed to implement Chinese Confucian thoughts in his poetry by quoting statements and by comparing and criticizing the Western society with the key Confucian concepts. In The Cantos, Canto XIII presents us an image of Confucius as a sage through an adoption of Confucius dialogue with his disciples; Canto ILVII describes a vivid picture of Chinese natural scene through which Westerners may get to know some typical Chinese traditional things; the China Cantos (Cantos LIII to LXI) gives a diagrammatic interpretation of Chinese history; and the second half of The Cantos, especially The Pisan Cantos (Cantos LXXIV to LXXXIV) fully expresses Pounds belief that Confucius thoughts can be adopted as the foundation for establishing an ideal state. More importantly, Pound quoted in The Cantos all the main Confucian philosophical concepts through the ideograms with the key concepts of Confucian philosophy that he learned from his translation of The Four Books ren/jen, benevolence or humanity; yi, justice, or equity, or righteousness; li, rites; zhi, wisdom; xin, fidelity; cheng/chung, sincerity; zhong, middle, or centre, neutrality, pivot, or point of balance; dao/tao, way/road or process, or course, or orientation, or morality, or doctrine; de, virtue or morality; zheng/cheng, correct; and ming, name(s), the two ideograms form a phrase that means define the correct terms or in Pounds (1948) words calling things by their names (see Canto LIII). Based on the method of interpreting Chinese ideograms in Fenollosas essay The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry (1920), Pound glossed some of the ideograms in Confucius (1951) as follows: , Humanitas, humanity, in the full sense of the word, manhood. The man and his full contents (p. 22); , Fidelity to the given word. The man here standing by his word (p. 22); , Sincerity. The precise definition of the word, pictorially, the suns lance coming to rest on the precise spot verbally. The righthand half of the compound means: to perfect, bring to focus (p. 20); , The process. Footprints and the foot carrying the head; the head conducting the feet, an orderly movement under lead of the intelligence (p. 22); and , What result, i.e., the action resultant from this straight gaze into the heart. The know thyself carried into action. Said action also serving to clarify the self-knowledge (p. 21). As for this aspect, Mary Paterson Cheadle (1997) commented:
Many Confucian concepts are presented in The Cantos in the form of Chinese words or phrases. Especially, when they are printed large, these words are visually striking and contribute dramatically to the sculptural effect of Pounds free verse. Pound himself appreciated the visual power of Chinese characters or ideographs and even believd that the conveyance of meaning depended in part on the skill with which word was drawn. (p. 222)
Tom Scott, a Poundian scholar, has written:

I predict that the next century will see, even be dominated by, a dialogue between the U.S. and China in which Pounds poetry will take on an importance and weight not obvious at the moment: That not only has he woven a new wholeness, or at any rate potential wholeness, out of European and American, but also of Chinese elements. (as cited in Cookson, 1985, p. 62)
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Pounds The Cantos, especially, the second part beginning with The Pisan Cantos, exemplifies Scotts statement. All told there are in the Pisan section more than fifty quotations or fragments from Pounds Confucian books, a number of which can simultaneously on several different passages or even different works (Stock, 1967, p. 82). To a certain extent, The Pisan Cantos represents Pounds deepest understanding of Confucian thoughts and his re-imagination of an ideal world. Pound devoted much of his life to studying Chinese culture, and disseminating Chinese culture, especially Confucian thoughts, to the Western world by his translation and poetry. His poetic idiosyncrasy is also embodied through Chinese poetics and the characteristics of Chinese language. Pound and China is an important subject in contemporary Sino-American intercultural relations, but the study and interpretation of Pounds poetry, which is composed with Confucian thoughts throughout the texts, remains barely being explored. Pounds eruditeness and the varsity of Chinese Confucian thoughts have posed many difficulties to the research of this field in Poundian studies. The Cantos, Pounds best poem, is also a testament to the strength and impact of his thoughts as expressed in the book The Pisan Cantos, which absorbed the essence of Western and Eastern cultures, was awarded Bollingen Prize for Poetry, even though Pound was then under indictment for treason in World War II. This paper attempts to explicate the Confucian thoughts being sprinkled fragmentarily throughout the Cantos with key concepts of the Confucianism as clues, so as to analyze Confucian thoughts and Chinese ideograms that Pound cited in The Pisan Cantos. With this approach, Pound strengthened the expressiveness of his thoughts, and it demonstrates how Chinese culture has made The Pisan Cantos more philosophical and poetical. The impact of Chinese culture on Pounds outlook and literary creation has even expanded to contemporary American poetry.
Pounds Application of Confucian Thoughts in The Pisan Cantos Through Understanding the Diagrams With Implication of Confucian Philosophical Concepts
A good understanding of Confucian thoughts adopted in The Pisan Cantos can be the right way to interpret Pounds philosophy and passion in these cantos. Pound hoped to revive Western culture so as to rebuild a modern Western society modeled by Confucian ideals. The rationale for this statement will be further expounded in this paper with interpretation of Confucian texts as cited in The Cantos. Pounds adoration for Confucian thoughts and his fascination with the ideogrammic structure and its ideographic function are fully represented in his application of Confucian classics, which enhance the philosophical meaning of the cantos and the aesthetics of the poetic language. In the summer of 1939, Pound completed China Cantos and Adam Cantos, and was about to finish the last part of The Cantos. He wrote soon after the breakout of World War II that Ive got my time cut out now for positive statements. My economic work is done (in the main). I shall have to go on considering and restating, but am now definitely onto questions of belief (Pound, 1950, p. 328). This last part was Pounds plan for The Cantos at that time, but due to the war experience and the jail experience in Pisa, the plan was changed to a certain extent. His subject in his poems, however, changed from worldly affairs to inner thoughts and the exploration of philosophy, and he mentally turned to study Confucian thoughts and their appropriation.
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All of these have led to The Cantos as we know it today, and The Pisan Cantos is considered the peak of Pounds poetic creation. The frequency of citation from Confucian thoughts in The Cantos increases as the poem develops from Confucius (Canto XIII), The China Cantos (Cantos LII-LXI) to The Pisan Cantos (Cantos LXXIV-LXXXIV) and other late cantos. In The Pisan Cantos alone, Pound cited twice from The Great Learning, four times from The Doctrine of the Mean, twenty times from The Dialectics of Confucius, and nine times from Mencius. In Canto XII and Canto XIII, Pound compared the disorder of modern Western economy with the social order as described in Confucian classics, and thus, exemplified the darkness and corruption of the post-war Western society. The Pisan Cantos, which fully explicates this subject, indicates that after going through the thick and thin of life, Pound as a Confucian advocate judged the world with Confucius and Mencius thoughts. Pound believed that China prospered in the past because of the guiding principles of Confucius. He adored the Confucian pantheon, and regarded The Book of Four as his Bible in his late career, which offers foundation and guidance for his acts. The political ideas and morals of Confucianism are enlivened with Pounds paraphrasing and exposition in The Pisan Cantos. Pounds fragmented poetic style and his use of so many languages in The Cantos sometimes obscures the poems to such an extent that continuing reading seems impossible, but with scrutiny, we can always identify the rationale of his thoughts among fragments. The following part will scrutinize the key ideograms with connotation of Confucian concepts in the cantos, so as to provide a clear picture of the influence of Confucian thoughts on Pounds poetry and ideology. jen, i.e., benevolence or humanity, is the keynote of Confucian thoughts. At the point of word formation, this ideogram can be divided two parts: ren = man; and er = two, the symbolic meaning can be interpreted as: Two people live together friendly and help and love with each other. And such phrases as (ren) (ai = love), benevolence and love, and (de = morality), benevolence and morality have been important concepts in Chinese culture, which particularly stresses the importance of social harmony and world peace and eliminates any selfless and merciless action. The ideogram is used in The Cantos many times. In Canto LV of China Cantos, Pound quoted Tsengs comment on The Great Learning: , , i.e., The humane man uses his wealth as means to distinction, the inhumane becomes a mere harness, an accessory to his taking (Confucius, 1928, 1951, p. 83), to condemn inhumane merchants and rulers. Also, he appreciated Confucian philosophy , , which he translated and put in the lines of Canto LXXXIII: the sage/delighteth in water/the humane man has amity with the hills (Pound, 1998, p. 549). Although the ideogram does not appear in The Pisan Cantos, Pound frequently used the concept of benevolence to demonstrate his points on social and moral issues in this section. At the beginning of Canto LXXIV, the opening canto of The Pisan Cantos, those Pound lamented, which he knows well and respected, are often disrespected after their death and even hanged for public display. Hence, he related to the leaders of ancient Mitiya, who were much esteemed by their people and to Mencius who said:
In the past, when Confucius passed away, his disciples packed to leave after three years of his death; they came to the house to say goodbye to Zi Gong (who would stay beside Confucius tomb for three years more) and cried so hard that not until they almost lost their voices did they depart. One day, Zi Xia, Zi Zhang, and Zi You (they were Confucius disciples) found Zeng Zi (one of Confucius disples) looks like Confucius and forced him to accept their salutation like
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that to Confucius. Zeng Zi said No. Our tutors thought has been purified in the Yangtze River and the Han River and exposed to the strong sunshine in the autumn, so his thought is so sublime and chastity that no one can be compared with. (ZHANG1, 1989, p. 359)
Thus, understanding why Zeng Zis shows his humility when receiving peoples respect for him, Pound wrote: and olive tree blown white in the wind/washed in he Kiang and Han/what whiteness will you add to this whiteness/what candor? (Pound, 1998, p. 445). Out of respect for and belief in Mussolinis economic socialism for governance, Pound expressed his sympathy to the tragic Mussolini in his poems with Mencius words. It seems to Pound that such merciless treatment to the dead is not benevolent (). He drew a conclusion (virtually from Confuciuss original words) that What you depart from is not the way (Pound, 1998, p. 445). Here Pound affirmed the moral thinking that social order should be maintained. Pound felt that the lack of normal social order in the post-war Western society and that of fundamental belief contributed to moral degradation and chaos. Pound expressed eloquently in The Cantos his belief that economic rules govern politics, probably, due to his hatred for the Jewish usurers, and his belief in Mussolinis policy. He cursed Winston Churchill, because Churchill revived gold standard in 1925, and hence, caused economic catastrophes (see Pound, 1998, p. 446); he condemned the ruthless Stalin and Roosevelt, who belittles Eastern philosophy and whose policies he disdained, and for satirizing the leaders unfaithfulness, he adapted the sentence in The Dialects of Confucius: : , i.e., Confucius said: While the gentleman cherishes virtue, the petty man cherishes the industries (of his own native place) (ZHANG, 1989, p. 87), put this idea in lines: not words where to to be faithful/nor deeds that they be resolute/only that bird-hearted equity make timber/and lay hold of the earth (Pound, 1998, p. 446). In these lines, Pound stated that governance comes first with benevolence and moral instead of economic industries, which may be developed through improper means, and what matters most with the governor is sincerity and benevolence. The principles of usury and gold standard reflect the governments insincerity and malevolence against the people and the dark side of human nature. Pound has always been concerned with the fate of human being and hoped to see the coming of a society with sincerity, peace, and tranquility. Pound wrote two essays: Immediate Need of Confucius (1937) and Mensius (1938) and urged the Western leaders to adopt the Confucian principles for governance, so much that he bashed Roosevelt: deification of emperor/snotty barbarian ignorant of Tang history need not deceive one (Pound, 1998, pp. 445-446). The imprint of war in Pound strengthened his sense of historical responsibility. Even if being condemned in Italy in the name of treason, Pound originally wanted to condemn the faithless politics and the politicians, especially those war-makers. But his lack of experience in war and his belief in the historical and economic problems, due to the war, led to his arrogant speech in Rome. Pound, to a certain extent, is not a war criminal, but a man with peculiar personality and ignorant political and economic concepts since he had always been condemning the war, and expecting a peaceful world where people are noble minded and states are governed by leaders with morality and benevolence stated in Confucian classics; and moreover, facing the appalling situation of the society destroyed by the two world wars in the 21th century, Pound has been meditating his
1 All the English versions of Confucian classical sentences in The Four Books edited by ZHANG are made by the present author. This note is also for all the following relevant quotations.
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paradise (Cookson, 1985, p. 68) and wished: To build the city of Dioce whose terraces are the colour of stars (Pound, 1998, p. 445). The Pisan Cantos to a certain extent is Pounds last words, written under the shadow of cruel punishment. But Pound gradually regained his confidence, perseverance, and soberness after the initial depression and perplexity in jail. His writing changed from a lament on himself, a sunsetting man to spiritual resurrection towards the end of The Pisan Cantos, reaffirming his faith in life and the future, If the hoar frost grip thy rent/ Thou wilt give thanks when night is spent (Pound, 1998, p. 560). In Canto LXXIV, Pound wrote down next to an ideogram that stands for OY TI (nobody in Greek), and he interpreted the ideogram as a sunsetting man (or a man on whom the sun has gone down (Pound, 1998, p. 450)). Despite of his misunderstanding of the meaning of the ideogram, Pounds interpretation chimes with the dilemma someone faces, referring to the hanged prisoner (his cell mate) and the unfortunate Odysseus, even to the poet himself. With the sadness of , Pound also wrote that TI (no man)/ a man on whom the sun has gone down (Pound, 1998, p. 450). It indicates that he felt depressed but maintained his faith and spirit. Reading The Pisan Cantos is a process of resurrection, from the low pitch and disarray of Canto LXXIV to the passionate Canto LXXIX to the sober and strong Canto LXXX. While reading the cantos, the reader is likely to be aware that Pound probably absorbed the essence of The Book of Four and regained confidence, recounting the evolution of human civilizations as a philosophical poet and historian instead of writing down someones last words. These changes occurred due to Pounds deeper understanding of the Confucian concepts of benevolence, fidelity and sincerity, and coming to epiphany of life in the end. Sincerity () is a key concept in Confucian thoughts, as the sentences in The Doctrine of the Mean read:
, ; , . , , , , . i.e., Sincerity is the code endowed by the heaven. Sincerity is the terminal goal of peoples life. Those who are sincere can reach the goal without much efforts and meditation; and those who can reach the goal in an ease way are sages. (ZHANG, 1989, p. 43)
Pound interprets the concept in the following lines principio verbum/paraclete or the verbum perfectum: sinceritas (Pound, 1998, p. 447). Pound adores Confucius and holds strongly to the Confucian belief that one should judge the world and people with sincerity as the criterion. So he writes: the word is made/ perfect/ better gift can no man make to a nation/ than the sense of Kung fu Tseu/ who was called Chung Ni/ nor in historiography nor in making anthologies (Pound, 1998, p. 474). Pound extends his understanding the concept sincerity to Canto LXXIV, in which he recounted his Pisan jail life, self-reflection, and epiphany of sincerity. He alluded to parables in order to express his respect and holiness for the ancient Chinese sages. The lines say: Light tensile immaculate/ the suns cord unspotted (Pound, 1998, p. 449); and he understood that sincerity brings out the most of human potential and pushes evolution as the sentence in The Doctrine of the Mean goes: If the principle of sincerity is strictly followed, an imprudent man will become wise, and a weak man will become strong (ZHANG, 1988, p. 44); and in Canto LXXVII he writed: only the total sincerity, the precise definition (Pound, 1998, p. 488). The concept sincerity has become his belief and philosophy, so his survival in the Pisan jail is to some extent much indebted to his study and translation of Confucian classics.
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Sincerity means to keep the promise of what is said, and mutual trust is needed to keep it, or to practice what you preach. Pounds fascination with sincerity is also identified by his putting down the ideogram on the head page of The Cantos, the most admirable book of his literary composition. Pound frequently cites The Doctrine of the Mea in The Pisan Cantos. He understood that The Doctrine of the Mean is Confucian scholars basic course for self-improvement, and is familiar with the essence of the Doctrine. He alluded to the sincerity and holiness of the ancient Chinese sages on contrast to the narrow-minded Western leaders, while, at the same time, expressing his aspiration for a higher level of morality. The ideogram (chung, meaning middle or central state/position, neutrality) is an important Confucian concept. refers to an unbiased stance, and yong = normal, commonplace refers to normal and steady state, so (i.e., the middle way) indicates a neutral stance on issues. Confucius believed that the middle way is the highest level of ethical and moral standards, and excess equals to shortage is against normal moral standard. Only those who deeply understand the principles and standards of nature and the world could reach the level of morality, and those unfaithful or indulgent government officials at that time could never reach this standard. In the opening Cantos of the China Cantos, Pound praised the ancient Chinese sages for their philosophical and moral standards that were fundamental in the prosperity of Chinese civilization and thinking. The Western world at that time was chaotic and disintegrating and few people wanted to pursue the middle way. In Cantos LXXIV, LXXVI, LXXVII and LXXXIV, Pound presented in Chinese handwriting and delicately alluded to his stance on governance and policy. Pound held doubt against the Western governments and uses to caution their leaders. In Canto LXXIV, he told about Western political legislation and its consequences, and how the paranoia of Western philosophy is blurring peoples collectivity and individuality, and wrote that Yaou chose Shun to longevity who seized the extremities and the opposites/ holding true course between them (Pound, 1998, p. 462). He believed that leaders must reinforce law with an unbiased stance and law reinforcement must obey the principles of steadiness and benevolence, and only in this way can a nation flourish as the ancient Chinese society did. In Canto LXXVI, Pound wrote that but to keepem three weeks Chung / we doubt it/ and in government not to lie down on it (Pound, 1998, p. 474). He felt that at that time Western governance was against their peoples wish and the society was degrading, he hoped that people from the West could learn and understand the Confucian middle way, and pursue higher morals to create a new Western Eden. Pound believed that Neutrality is the highest level of morality, and the best criterion for judgment. A government will change legislations as they always do when implementing policies, but variations come to one principle, neutrality. Therefore, he wrote in Canto LXXVII that le beau monde gouverne/ if not toujours at any rate it is a level of/ some sort whereto things tend to return/ Chung / in the middle/ whether upright or horizontal (Pound, 1998, p. 484). And therefore, he adopted the ideogram in the last part of The Pisan Cantos, expressing his adoration to Confucianism our our/homage (Pound, 1998, p. 560). Pound paid too much attention to economic policies governance, but too little to economic struggles and wars, and not until the late period of World War II did he realize the devil of fascism. In the Pisan jail chung/whereto we may pay
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self-reflection, what Pound felt strongest was his understanding of justice/righteousness, and he came to understand the injustice and devastation to human beings of World War II. He was in search of justice among bewilderment and felt that wars led to the stagnancy of the Western society, the degradation of the governments, the lost of human kindness and conscience, and the deviation of values, the void of human beings, and the whole Western world was turning into a waste land full of loneliness and thorns. Therefore, he restated In The Spring and Autumn there/are/no/righteous/wars (Pound, 1998, p. 503) in Canto LXXVIII. To a certain extent the main theme of The Cantos, which reflects the moral degradation of the Western society and the spiritual void, corresponds to T. S. Elliots theme in his The Waste Land. In other words, Pound and Elliot share similar outlooks though their poetic styles are quite different. When talking about the injustice and horror of wars, Pound aligned two columns of handwritten characters with the writing on the shadow of war , (ZHANG, 1989, p. 74), which comes originally from The Dialectics. Confuciuss original meaning is to abandon the ceremony of worshiping gods and to turn to practical affairs in life. Pound alluded to this statement and aligns the two couplets with the shadow of war in order to insinuate that military interference in another countrys internal affairs is an unjustifiable action. the god-damn wop is not, save by exception,/honest in administration any more than the Briton is truthful (Pound, 1998, p. 490), and Confucian thoughts is rightly meant to caution people to learn the historical lessons of warfare. It is significant that Pound promoted Confucian thoughts and the morals of ancient Chinese sages amidst the shadow of war as he wrote in Canto LXXXIII:
Boon companion to equity/ it joins with the process/lacking it, there is inanition//When the equities are gathered tighter/as birds alighting/it springeth up vital//If deeds be not ensheaved and garnered in the heart/there is inanition. (Pound, 1998, p. 551)
In Cantos LXXVII, LXXXVI, and CXVIII, Pound focused on the relationship between justice and peace in Confucian thoughts. With the criterion of justice to review the Italian policy and war-makers criminal action in wars. He scornfully wrote:
For losing the law of Chung Ni, /hence the valise set by the alpinos statue in Brunik/and the long lazy float of the banners/and similar things occurred in Dalmatia/lacking tht treasure of honesty/which is the treasure of states/and the dog-damn wop is not, save by exception,/honest in administration any more than the Briton is truthful (Pound, 1998, p. 490)
He even directly bashed the Mussolini government, Jactancy, vanity, peculation to the ruin of 20 years labour (Pound, 1998, p. 490), and gave out his sigh that: For now so much as a just peace/That wd/obstruct future wars/as witness the bombardment at Frascati after the armistice/ had been signed (Pound, 1998, p. 494), as he wanted to explain that a gentleman will show his benevolence whenever the occasion arises, and his justice whenever the chance comes in. Pound has been closely concerned with a nations economic policy, with focus on monetary operation and loan policy, or what he referred to as currency economics. He frequently cited justified benefits from Confucian thoughts to condemn usurers and private banks. He praised the Chinese leader of the Shang Dynasty (562-1066 B.C.), who produced coins for his people to buy food and Emperor Kang Xi of the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 A.C.), who implemented steady and transparent monetary management policies. In terms of
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currency credit, Pound believed in the social credibility system, and regarded the private banks which make something out of nothing and only exploit on interests as evil as the Jewish usurers. He believed that to expand the scope of credit is state banks privilege instead of the private banks, and therefore, he praised the ancient Athenian implementer (B.C. 527-460). He argued that now that wealth is created by the people, it should belong to the people, and the government should hold justice and represent the people, instead of a few individuals who can do the alternation of the value of money (Pound, 1998, p. 460). Besides, Pound frequently referred to Canto XIX in Leviticus of the Bible in The Pisan Cantos, cautioning people that unjustifiable practice is not allowed in peoples economic life, and praising:
And the two largest rackets are the alternation/of the value of money/(of the unit of money METATHEMENON TE TON/KRUMENON/and or lending/that which is made out of nothing/and the state can lend money as was done/by Athens for the building of the Salamis fleet/and if the packet gets lost in transit/ask Churchills backers/where it has got to. (Pound, 1998, p. 460)
The disorder of social economy and rampant private credit have contributed much to social corruption, how can it be avoided? It is not difficult to imagine a disordered society and an unsteady country of people struggling for a living. Le Paradis nest pas artificiel/nor does the martin against the tempest/fly as in the calm air/ like an arrow, and under bad government/like an arrow (Pound, 1998:488). In The Pisan Cantos, Pound reiterated the importance of Confucian thoughts in the attempt of helping the rulers and people establish a righteous and peaceful world. is a concept that pervades all Chinese thought, moral, political, and metaphysical. In Canto LIIXIII, Pound put a big ideogram to indicate that if it (money) be based on work done/inside the nation or system/and cancelled in proportion/to what is used and worn out/ la Wrgl (Pound, 1998, p. 502). Pound understood that the connotation of the Confucian concept of can be interpreted as the nature of evolution, the economic rules, the governmental rules, or the moral principles for interpersonal relationship, and thereby, he wrote that rain also is of the process/ the wind also is of process (Pound, 1998, p. 445), and if things develop against their natural rules, they will go down; a person who seemingly abides by the rules but twists the facts and goes against the norms can hardly win other peoples trust. Here he alluded to a saying from The Doctrine of the Mean in Canto LXXIV that what you depart from is not the way (Pound, 1998, p. 445) to indicate his complaint against harsh practices against people. Pound also regarded as something mysterious and desirable. In Canto LXXXIII, he told about his observations of ants in the jail:
And now the ants seem to stagger/as the dawn sun has trapped their shadows,/this breath wholly covers the mountains/it shines and divides/it nourishes by its rectitude/does no injury/overstanding the earth it fills the nine fields to heaven/Boon companion to equity/it joins with the process/lacking it, there is inanition. (Pound, 1998, p. 551)
He also quoted from Mencius that When the equities are gathered together/as birds alighting/it springeth up vital/If deeds be not ensheaved and garnered in the heart/there is inanition (Pound, 1998, 551) to state that the ants disencouragement goes against the principles of justice and a justified path, and he hoped that the leaders will grasp the essence of a justified collection and things prosper or degrade in accordance with a justified path.
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Pound, a Confucian in the West

The above analysis of Confucian classics in The Pisan Cantos indicates that Pound attempted to reverse the chaotic order of Western society with Confucian thoughts and turn it back into a new Eden. Pound seemed to regard the Confucian thoughts as the panacea to save the war-ruined and down-turned Western world. Pound is an avant-courier pioneer of the 20th-century modernist poetry, and his eruditeness and rich thinking have contributed to the formation of The Cantos which combines Western and Eastern cultures. Throughout the 117 Cantos in The Cantos, China is the main theme, from the Confucius Canto (Canto XIII) to China Cantos (Cantos LII to LXI), especially from The Pisan Cantos (LXXIV-LXXXIV Cantos) to the end, Confucian thoughts becomes the main theme, including the Cantos of LXXII and LXXIII which are written in Italian. These are Pounds spiritual achievements after fully comprehending Confucian thoughts and morals. The Pisan Cantos stands for an integration of poetry, history, and philosophy with a loose structure but a coherent spirit; it also exemplifies Pounds fragmented poetic features, which is typically an approach of open poetic creation and exerted significant influence on American modernist and postmodernist poetic creation. In the history of American literature, Pound in the 1950s and 1960s became a spiritual leader for young American poets as he has offered not only guidance but also preaching of Chinese culture and Confucian thoughts to them. Even though, many of the young poets were only following the popular fascination with Taoism and Buddhism, Pounds preaching and the translation of Confucian classics in his The Cantos has exposed the Western readers to the world of Chinese philosophy and ancient civilization. In The Pisan Cantos, the reader is introduced to world civilizations from the past to present and the preaching of ancient sages. In the cantos, Pound expressed his admiration for ancient Chinese sages and prosperity, his ideals for constructing a new Utopia and his self-reflection and desperation when depression prevails and hope diminishes. The Pisan Cantos is a re-creation of world history and a confluence of Western and Chinese cultures with Confucian thoughts running through the lines as the poets main form of expression. Just because of his devotion to the study and application of Confucian thoughts, Pound has been named by Poundian scholars as Confucian Pound.
References
Cheadle, M. P. (1997). Ezra Pounds Confucian translations. New York: Directions Publishing Corporation. Cheadle, M. P. (1997). Ezra Pound's confucian translations. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. Cookson, W. (1985). A guide to the cantos of Ezra Pound. New York: Persea Books. John J. N. (1984). Blossoms from The east: The China cantos of Ezra Pound. Orono: University of Maine Press. Pound, E. (1948). The Pisan Cantos. New York: New Directions Publishing Cooperation. Pound, E. (1950). Selected letters 1907-1941 of Ezra Pound. London: Faber and Faber. Pound, E. (1950). Selected prose 1909-1965. New York: New Directions Publishing Cooperation. Pound, E. (1951). Confucius: The unwobbling pivot, the great digest, the analects. New York: New Directions Publishing Cooperation. Pound, E. (1998). The Cantos of Ezra Pound. New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation. Stock, N. (1967). Reading the cantos: A study of meaning in Ezra Pound. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. ZHANG, Y. W. (1989, annotated). The Book of four. Changsha: Hunan University Press.
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When Gods Cry: Exploring Environmental Crisis Through Literature Inspired by the Indigenous Peoples Experience
Genevieve Jorolan-Quintero
University of the Philippines Mindanao, Davao City, Philippines
The recent devastation caused by natural calamities in the Philippines has prompted the government to initiate programs that might not altogether prevent but at least minimize the dire effects of future disasters. Among these programs are the information campaigns to promote awareness among the communities in calamity-prone areas. Several symposia that provide venue for the discussion of environmental bads have been conducted, but none yet has explored the perceptions of the indigenous peoples, staunch defenders and protectors of the environment who themselves are victims of such calamities. This paper seeks to highlight the perceptions of the indigenous people on the causes and impact of environmental bads through literature inspired by their experiences. When Gods Cry is an unpublished anthology of fiction inspired by the authors interaction with indigenous communities in southern Philippines while doing research on oral traditions. Three works of fiction are discussed in this paper, namely: The Old Man and the Mountain (2012), Loom of Dreams (2012), and Waterfall (2012). Each of these works highlights the indigenous peoples struggle to protect their ancestral domains and the environment, their home, against external factors. Thematic literary analysis is used in the discussion of the contents of each work. Keywords: Philippine indigenous communities, oral traditions, folk lore
Introduction
Literature is a powerful tool that can be wielded to affect some form of change. When a writer writes, he or she is guided by a clear objective, a purpose which he or she hopes will translate to the readers in the way it is intended to. All this talk about global bads puts the writer in a position to wield this power to scrutinize the issue, trace its causes, highlight its effects, and induce the reader to do something about it. This is what the written word can do. The author has done research, and she is still doing research, that seek to salvage, and disseminate knowledge about indigenous oral traditions, folk literature in particular. Her aim is to get them recorded, written down, and published before they are lost to oblivion, and thus deprive the present and future generations the privilege to learn and understand the legacy and wisdom of the past. The authors trips to the mountains and remote towns of Mindanao in the southern island of the Philippines in order to be with the indigenous communities yielded not only a significant collection of folk
Genevieve Jorolan-Quintero, Ph.D. in Education Administration, Humanities Department, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Mindanao.
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literature, but also provided her with the opportunity to learn about their belief systems, through their stories, their songs, and their proverbs. Her was humbled by the richness of their folklore, and awed by their eloquence in articulating their concept of the relationship between the humans, nature, and the gods and spirits. From this, the author started writing stories inspired by the experiences of the tribes and put these stories together into an anthology entitled When Gods Cry (2013). The 10 works the author has written for the anthology embody the perception of the indigenous people on the causes and consequences of environmental destruction.
When Gods Cry: Retelling the Stories of the Folk

The author will briefly discuss here three of the stories included in the anthology: Waterfall, Apo (The Old Man and the Mountain, 2012), and Loom of Dreams (2012). Here is a common legend meant to explain the origin of a waterfall:
Liwan was a princess forced by her father to marry a man she didnt have feelings for. She loved another man, a commoner named, Dyomabok. On the night before her wedding, Liwan secretly met with Dyomabok, and pleaded with him to take her away from the palace. The two managed to leave the palace, but the king learned about their escape. He then led the palace guards in pursuit of the lovers. There was no escape for them when they came at the edge of a ravine. Then they raised their eyes to the heavens and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. They held hands and jumped off the cliff. The whole place was suddenly covered with fog, and there was thunder and lightning. They dissolved into thin air, and in their place emerged the rushing waters of a waterfall. (Jorolan-Quintero, 2012, p. 290)
This legend varies from one place to another. Despite the variations in the narrative, the basic elements are present: a story about forbidden love, and the intervention of a god or the great spirit. The author used these basic elements as the foundation of her story Waterfall. For the legend, she added a twist: turning Dyomabok into an eagle instead of both characters turning into a waterfall; the eagle and the waterfall being strong motifs in Philippine folklore.
Liwans hand slipped from Dyomaboks grip as his arms changed into wings. Dyomabok watched horrified as his beloved fell, but was surprised as she dissolved and turned into water. Liwan had transformed into a waterfall, and Dyomabok into an eagle. (Jorolan-Quintero, 2012, p. 291)
The author further added details that were intended to highlight the implications of environmental destruction.
Legend had it, that the spirit of the waterfall protected all those who came to drink. When a creature was harmed, when blood was spilled, it was believed that the spirit would turn its rage against all of humanity. The gentle cascades would then turn into a rushing torrent, which would devour anything in its path. According to the elders of the tribe, this had happened before. The waters of the waterfall had covered the entire forest, drowning all creatures. No one and nothing were spared. (Jorolan-Quintero, 2012, p. 283)
Folklore links us with the past and provides us with a glimpse of how our ancestors lived and what they believed in. This concept reflects what a popular Philippine proverb asserts: Ang siyang di lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay di makararating sa paroroonan (whoever does not look back to his/her past will never arrive at a destination). Because of the accelerated influx of modern technology and the influence of modern living, it is evident that interest in folklore and the study of it have diminished (http://folklore.philsites.net/). However, the meanings and values we adhere to in the present are still influenced by those of the past. Sometimes, we do
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indirectly seek the advice of the elders, we seek the wisdom of the past in order to cope with or shed light to the badness we experience in the present. When the author wrote, Loom of Dreams (2012), Apo (2012), and Waterfall (2012), her objective was to lend a voice to the people of the mountain tribes who are bound to silence and to helplessness by those in the lowlands who claim power and authority over their ancestral lands, and those who do not understand the value and significance of their traditions. She is inspired by the wisdom of the tribal folks whose concern for their environment, their home, is intertwined with their spirituality, their belief in the omniscient powers of the Magbabaya, the Supreme Spirit, and the spirit guardians of the creatures in Nature.
Environmental Crisis, the Indigenous Peoples Experience, and Literature

Progress and modernization have been the constant excuses for the abuse, the exploitation, and eventual destruction of naturea sad reality in many parts of the Philippines. The recent typhoons that destroyed many lives and properties in the southern part of the country are attributed to global warming, and global warming is blamed on the destructive activities of the human society. Yet, to the indigenous people, global warming is an unfamiliar concept. While majority would point a finger to it as the culprit, the tribes seek the wisdom of the ages, turn to spirituality and their myths and legends in seeking for explanations. To them, myths and legends are lessons. They ring with truths. For modern society, we refer to history in our quest to understand past events and history being a truthful proven narrative. Modern society views myths and legends as pseudo-scientific explanations of natural phenomena. But the indigenous people revere their myths and legends which are narratives of life, and this requires faith. The indigenous people believe that their relationship with their gods is essential to their lives. There is this reward-punishment bond between gods and humans, mostly, dependent on the moods and the pleasure of the gods. They could help humans, but also destroy them. Their benevolence could result to prosperity and comfort. Their anger could cause natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes and eventually death. To avoid these, humans must, therefore, be cautious in dealing with the gods. Pleasing the gods brings peace, prosperity, and contentment. But disrespecting them and causing them to be angry mean punishment, chaos, and death. A week after the devastating typhoon hit the southern part of the Philippines on December 2012, the indigenous communities who were also victims of the calamity performed a ritual in the worst hit area. A babaylan, a priestess, prayed to the gods acknowledging their role in the chaos, and at the same time, appeasing their anger, praying for the lost lives, appealing to the gods not to punish them in the same way again, and promising to take care of nature which people have destroyed causing the anger of the gods. For the indigenous people, it is the abuse and disrespect for nature that is the root cause of this punishment. Had the people been more conscientious about the fragility of nature and cautious of the anger of the gods, then none of these could have happened. It is this collective view that guided the authors stories. At this point, may she share with you excerpts from three of the 10 stories in the anthology When Gods Cry. Excerpt From Apo (The Old Man and the Mountain) The story about Apo highlights the indigenous peoples belief system closely linked to nature and their environment. The spirits of nature are benevolent to humans; but as it is gradually destroyed by the humans
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themselves in the name of progress and development, nature retaliates by causing catastrophic calamities. Apo is the name of the mountain in the story, but the term is also a title given to the male elders of a tribe. In a family set up, the term also literally means Grandfather.
Just as the sun was half way behind the mountain, Apo Akdu raised his head, looking straight at the mountain peak. He raised one hand and called on the spirit of the mountain; his face glowed from the rays of the setting sun. He called on the spirit of the forest. A soft breeze stirred the leaves of the mango tree. From afar, the rushing water of the waterfall carried with it the voices of the spirits. Salumnay looked at her father. The creases on his forehead had deepened. She had always been awed at how her father and the mountain seemed to communicate with each other. Ama? Yes Yes Apo Akdu was nodding, a sad expression on his face. The waterfall will soon be gone, Salumnay. The forest too. Soon there will be no more baboy ramo. The spirits are sadbad things are still to come Apo Akdu clutched his daughters hand. The mountain is in pain. Salumnay met Ikongs eyes. They both looked towards the mountain. The glow from the sun was gone, covering the peak in semi-darkness. Suddenly, they felt the ground move. They drew closer. The mountain is in pain, Salumnay. The mountain is in pain (Jorolan-Quintero, p. 15)
Excerpt From Waterfall This story is inspired by the recent devastating floods that destroyed many lives and homes in the southern part of the Philippines. Just like Apo, Waterfall deals with the destructive tendencies of certain groups of people in society who have no qualms in destroying nature for material progress. Here, the indigenous community was manipulated and deceived to give up their rights over their ancestral land to a greedy politician who collaborated with a business company intent on harnessing the powers of the waterfall to provide electricity to the lowlands. The legend earlier cited, that of Lumnay and Dyomabok, is integrated in this story. It is the anger of the gods and the spirits of nature over the abuses of the environment by humans that causes the deluge.
The panic-stricken parents rushed to the clearing, gripped with foreboding, as the sound of gunfire continued. Vita and Luna were in the clearing too. They held one another, silently praying and hoping that Kilat and Gambong and their friends were safe Just at that moment, the eagle swooped down the waterfall, squawking. This time, it didnt fly down playfully as it used to; nor did it touch the cascading waters with its wings. But it deliberately plunged straight to the bigger pool, its claws aimed at one of the men standing at the banks. The man was stunned, not expecting the attack, and was unable to protect himself from the eagles claws. He screamed when the sharp claws scratched his cheek. The eagle once again flew upwards, then dived back, this time eyeing the man in the smaller pool. But the man was ready for it. He aimed his gun at the large bird and fired. The eagle spiraled down, its wings touching the cascades, as if in a final farewell. A red spot stained its breast and, as the blood dripped from the body of the fallen bird, a loud roar was heard. From up the banks of the source of the waterfall, the guards noticed the sudden swelling of the river. Those in the village felt the ground shake. And then, they heard the roaring sound before they saw the wall of murky water rushing towards them. Their muffled screams were immediately drowned by the thundering waters. The flood swept away everything and everyone in its way. The following day, news of the devastation caused by the deluge filled the airwaves. They talked about a sudden flood in the absence of a typhoon; not even a hint of rain because the skies were summer clear on that fateful day. They talked about rushing, murky waters from the mountains, destroying towns and cities in the lowlands. They sought for explanations. There was none; for who could explain the wrath of the spirits. (Jorolan-Quintero, p. 371)
Excerpt From Loom of Dreams The woven craft of the indigenous communities in the Philippines are significant not only because of the craftsmanship, the beauty, and the uniqueness of its designs, but also because of the stories and belief systems
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they portray. One of these is the dagmay, the woven fabric made of abaca fiber created by the southern tribes in Mindanao. The story provides a detailed description of the dagmay design, and how it shows the connection between the gods, the humans, and nature. Similar to the Apo and Waterfall, Loom of Dreams also focuses on the importance of environmental protection and respect for the spirits of nature who are its protectors.
As the moon moved between clouds, its rays created a spotlight directed on the branches of the tree. And there, illumined by the moon, was the dagmay, draped as if by an invisible hand over a branch, its length teasing the tips of the grass at the foot of the tree. The dark abaca fabric slightly swayed. The moonlight paused on the dagmay, mesmerized by it, waiting to witness the transformation. Slowly, threads of gold and red and white appeared, weaving themselves in and out, until shapes gradually emerged. Just then, a cloud covered the moon. Tedi sat up, gasping for breath. She looked around the room. It was dark. Beside her on the mat lay her grandmother. Ompo Andings breathing was steady. Tedi closed her eyes tight, willing herself to recapture the images of her dream. She could still make out the movements of the gold and red and white threads. (Jorolan-Quintero, p. 45) Ompo Anding was now touching a golden figure, shaped like a man. Below it was a diamond-like form, its tip touching the next figure, a smaller version of the one above; then there was the intricate shape that looked like two small diamonds attached to each other, and below it appeared what appeared to Tedi as an alligator. See here, Budi, Ompo Anding explained. The topmost figure is the Magbabaya. And this here symbolizes the connection between the spirit world and ours. This figure here stands for the human race. And this is Nature that binds us with the other creatures. And this is Nature that binds us with the other creatures. The whole dagmay is the world, Budi, our world. As long as the Tagamaling chooses the worthy one to keep this tradition alive, our people, our tribe shall continue to liveAs long as the Tagamaling continues to reveal herself to us, our people will be safe, there will always be order in the universe Nobody in the village had ever copied the design of Ompo Andings dagmay. Many weavers had tried, but the design refused to take shape on their looms. Legend has it that nobody can weave the intricate design unless it appears in her dream. (Jorolan-Quintero, p. 53)
Among the indigenous communities in the southern island of the Philippines, this woven tapestry made of abaca fiber is known as dagmay among the Mandaya, and tinalak among the Bagobo and Tibolis. The dominant colors are red, black, brown, white, and an occasional yellow. On the tapestry can be discerned symbolic figures which are representations of people and nature. A crocodile and a body of water represent nature, arranged alternately with the human figure. The whole tapestry tells a story. The autor has heard three different versions of it. The theme is constant though: the interdependence of people and nature, and the benevolence of the Supreme Being.
Conclusions
The authors stories are welded together by one element: the indigenous peoples view on the bond between the gods, nature, and humanity. Their folklore embodies the wisdom of the ages solidified by experience and faith. Because of the influx of modernization and the obsession for new technologies, folklore is on the verge of being forgotten and rendered as insignificant. There is hope thoughand this is when writers write the stories down for posterity. In his brief preface to the Anthology, Sharlow Mohammed, a novelist from the Caribbean, has this to say:
Genevieves Anthology provides for entertaining and informative reading. We could wish for morethere are many urgent and important lessons for us. Foremost perhaps, is how the tribes manage to preserve and maintain the natural environment, as against those hostile to Nature. (Jorolan-Quintero, 2012, p. 2)
When Gods Cry is an attempt to concretize the experiences of the indigenous folks and their perceptions
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on how environmental protection is tantamount to achieving lasting peace and sustainable development which they themselves find difficult to articulate. When Gods Cry hopes to lend a voice to the indigenous folks as they cry out silently to put a stop to the abuses and misuses of nature. It is time to heed this cry.
References
Eugenio, D. L. (2001). Philippine folk literature: The epics. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. Eugenio, D. L. (2007). Philippine folk literature: An anthology. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. Gaspar, K. M. (2000). The Lumads struggle in the face of globalization. Davao City: Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao. Jorolan-Quintero, G. (2012). When gods cry (Unpublished manuscript). Sharlow, M. (2003). Writing the novel. Nebraska: Sirens Publications. Sharlow, M. (2004). When gods were slaves. Nebraska: Sirens Publications. Talinghaga. (2002). Introduction to Philippine Folklore. Retrieved from http://folklore.philsites.net Valderama, U. C. (1987). The colourful mandaya: Ethnic tribe of davao oriental. Davao City: Tesoros Printing Press.
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Zdenk Fibichs opera Hedy as a Czech Tristan Between Wagnerism and Verismo
Ji Kopeck
Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Fibichs opera Hedy (premiered in 1896) was received as a succesfull work, although many reviewers did not know how to call the prevailing style (mixture of wagnerianism, Grand opra, verismo exotico, the second Don Giovanni composed for Prague because of reminiscences on Mozarts dramma giocoso). It is not uneasy to find clear musical hints on Puccini in Fibichs next opera rka (premiered 1897), but it was already in Hedy where drastic and geographically clearly determined subject was mixed with Wagnerian gesture of love extasy, which is everywhere and endless. Obviously, Fibich, as a mature artist, was able to connect rules of both Czech declamation and contemporary veristic fashion. This study tries to identify main stylistic features which shaped Fibichs fifth opera, and analyses receptive expectations from the side of Czech audience and its influence on Fibichs opera composition. Keywords: Zdenk Fibich, Lord Byron, the 19th century opera
Introduction
Zdenk Fibich (1850-1900) returned to opera composition at the beginning of 1890s after almost 10-years-long silence. Antonn Dvoks stay in USA strenghtened Fibichs position as the most important Czech opera composer of his period. A. Dvok as well Leo Janek intensively commented Fibichs operas (The Tempest, 1894; Hedy, 1895; rka, 1896; The Fall of Arkona, 1899). For Hedy, Fibich took Byrons Don Juan as a main inspiration, and elaborated the four-act libretto by Aneka Schulzov with rich chromatic musical discourse combined with the local color of Greece. Shortly, after its premiere in 1896, it received the name of Czech Tristan, nevertheless, it is only one side of sellected approach to the opera composition of the fin-de-sicle Czech composer. Only the knowledge of historical context of 1890s in the Czech lands can decipher appropriate definition of opera type of Hedy.
Zdenk Fibich as a Wagnerian

Zdenk Fibich (1850-1900) gained the reputation of a Wagnerian during the 1880s, because his third opera, Nevsta messinsk (The Bride of Messina) (1884) was consistently written in what was considered to be proper declamatory style. His emphasis on correct music declamation of Czech words was based on Otakar Hostinsks perception of Wagners work. Hostinsk, who was primarily an aesthetician, had adapted the libretto of Nevsta
Ji Kopeck, Ph.D., Department of Musicology, Philosophical Faculty, Palacky University.
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messinsk from Schillers play Die Braut von Messina (1803). Moreover, it has been established that Fibich and Antonn Dvok debated the merits of Wagners music dramas rather frequently towards the end of the 1880s. However, the utter failure of Nevsta messinsk in 1884 discouraged Fibich from composing operas for nearly ten years. When he decided to write for the stage of Nrodn divadlo (National Theatre) in Prague once more, the public frankly expected that he would present an unpleasant transformation of Wagnerian principles. Alois Gbl (1895) wrote to his friend Antonn Dvok in America about Fibichs opera Boue (The Tempest): It is said to be Wagner himself, although the melodies are said to be self-indulgent in places (as cited in Kuna, 1999, p. 371). Few people expected that Fibich would be prove himself to be an accomplished composer who could combine Wagnerian elements of stylewhich, in Prague, meant flawless declamationwith an expressive melodic line. In Dvoks absence, Fibich began to be seen as the most important Czech operatic composer after Bedich Smetana. This situation, unfortunately, was the fundamental cause of the wars over Dvok that would come later. Nevertheless, there remains the fact that Dvok as well as Leo Janek made significant comments about Fibichs new operas (The Tempest, 1894; Hedy, 1895; rka, 1896; and The Fall of Arkona, 1899). For his contemporaries, Fibichs creative work at the end of the century became an indispensable model for versatile and achievable operatic workswhether they would be received positively or with serious critical rebukes. Fibichs opera Hedy (finished in 1895, premiered in 1896) was an immediate success. However, many reviewers did not know what to call the prevailing style. Today, we can identify the apparent Wagnerianisms that baffled his contemporaries as representative of the current international trend to combine different opera traditions (Internationalisierung der Oper). Hedy seems to be a remarkable mixture of Wagnerianism, grand opera, and verismo exotico. The opera could also be perceived as the second Don Giovanni composed for Prague, where the tradition of Mozarts dramma giocoso was still alive, especially, since Hedy portrays an episode of Byrons Don Juan.
Hedy
Fibich began to sketch his fifth opera on November 4, 1894; the end of the autograph score of the third act is dated November 27, 1895. Fibich and his librettist (his intimate friend Aneka Schulzov) devoted much care to Hedy. Fibich invited conductor Adolf ech as well as critics Jaromr Boreck and Emanuel Chvla to a private hearing of the opera. For the director of National Theatre Frantiek Adolf ubert, the production of Hedy was the only premiere of the 13 years of Nrodn divadlo. The principal music publisher in Prague, Frantiek Augustin Urbnek accepted the piano score of Hedy for publication with Czech and German text in April 1895, and he gave it excellent publicity. But involving Czech Prague in the presentation of a Fibich work also evoked unfriendly reactions. Moic Anger, the second conductor of Nrodn divadlo, informed Dvok (1895):
You can imagine how angry Fibich was with you because of the filling of your position at the conservatory. But now hes set up a bakery for operashes submitted one unfinished opera Boue, and the next one Hedy is already in the ovenand he has already composed two actsand begun the orchestrationI am enormously curious about Boue, but since the performers dont expect anything, it will not be a success. (as cited in Kuna, 1999, pp. 362-363)
However, Hedys premiere was at least as successful as Boue had been. It confirmed Fibichs victorious return to opera: the listener had the impression that we have not heard on the stage such a masterly sound as
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last evening since the time of Smetana1 ( Novotn, (1951, pp. 166171). Karel Knittl, who had severely criticised Nevsta messinsk characteristically began his review with the words: It is said that everyone who enjoys attempts at Wagnerian music will approve of new music. It does not have to be pure-blooded Wagnerianism. It does not have to pray to Our Father of Bayreuth with an obbligato: And do not lead us into ballet, but deliver us from an ensemble (Knittl, 1896, p. 77). But it was precisely the musically and scenically magnificent aspects of the opera that led to its problematic reception and condemnation. Critic E. Chvla was upset by his friends opera, for ballet in the old-fashioned manner was a reference to Les Huguenots (1836) and Robert le diable (1831), to the ensemble, E. Chvla remarked: if a master makes an error, it is a serious one (Chvla, 1950, pp. 99-405). The scorn that Hedy provoked is shown by the recollection that women in the theatre shouted during intermission: I would give ten Hedys for one Aida (Piskek, 1910, p. 350). How could one and the same work be rejected as an unsuccessful imitation of Romanesque opera, and at the same time, given a royal welcome as the Czech Tristan? The critic of Nrodn listy (National Newspaper), noted Hedys resemblance to Tristan and Isolde in his review (Boreck, 1896); so did Emanuel Chvla and many other reviewers, most importantly Aneka Schulzov (Richter, 1900, pp. 172, 183). Aneka Schulzov, a well-educated literary figure and theatre critic, was attracted to Russian realism, Zolas naturalism and modern trends. On a more practical level, she became aware in 1894 of a relevant chapter about Byron in Naturalism v Anglii (Naturalism in England) by Georg Brandes2. She was aware of intense contrasts; after the greatest danger of life, came the splendid and gentle harmony of young love between Juan and Hedy, the highest, freest, sweetest intensification of life; after glory comes the bitterest pain (Brandes, 1895, p. 438). When she transformed part of Byrons epic into a libretto, it was clear that her text could have captured the spirit of musical verismo along with Greek local color. But Fibich conceived the workas Wagner had with Tristanas an intimate declaration of love. And we discover another paradox in Hedy. The rich chromaticism in musical speech, a reflection of Fibichs respect for Wagner, is characteristic of Hedys father Lambro, who destroyed his daughters relationship with Juan. Wagner used the Tristan chord to signify longing, but by Fibich reinforces Lambros destructive strength with equally destructive chords. In Wagners Tristan und Isolde (premiered in 1865), the lovers meeting is openly presented. The close of Hedys second act is written as a lovers duet, with a Wagnerian blend of death and erotic ecstasy, with a Tristanian union of soul and body: V tob jen iju, pro tebe, s tebou! (I live only in you, For you, with you!) (see Schulzov, 1896). In the middle of the fourth act, the pirates and Lambro lead Juan away as a prisoner to a ship. The voices of Hedy and Juan are joined in a miniature death of love (Liebestod): Smrti, ty mj smilovn, pijmi v er ns svho mru, spojen kde vn kyne! (Death, smile on us, bring us your peace in the twilight, joined where eternity beckons!). At the end of the opera, Hedy is in the same dramatic situation as Isoldealthough she has lost her love, she still feels loves exaltation and welcomes death. Beginning with the
Sv. 1, review dated 14. 2. 1896. Wagners opera Tristan and Isolde was premiered in Prague on September 1, 1896, in Neues Deutsches Theater. As we know, Fibich had in his library complete scores by R. Wagner and excerpted from Wagners works appeared in various programmes. Leo Janek published his analytical remarks about Tristan and Isolde in Hudebn listy [Music Letters] 1885 to show differences between Wagner and Dvok, and to confirm a general opinion, that each Czech musician should know Wagners works (kad esk hudebnk Wagnerova dla znti m). see Janek (2003). 2 The Czech community first became acquainted with Byrons work at highly intellectual in translation through Hostinsks university colleague and rival Josef Durdk (see his cycle of lectures from 1870 and later, his O poesii a povaze Lorda Byrona (On the poetry and character of Lord Byron) and his translation of Byrons Kain).
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phrase: Zde mj ivot vzeel, a zde tak zkon! (Here my life began, and here it ends), her melody, like Isoldes Liebestod, rises in a phrase-by-phrase sequence of transpositions that lead it beyond clear reference to key. The eloquence of Wagnerian Orchestermelodie is due to its interconnected leitmotivs. Its continuity is understandable at every moment. In Hedy, Fibich does not appear to be a master of dialogue and relationships, but of psychological monologue, of moods. He used some motives as conventional emblems and repeated them in shifting sequences. He continually varied and embellished certain ideas, particularly in the singing voice, in close union of voice with orchestra. Wagner carried the weight of the drama with an orchestra blended with voices; Fibich used scenic vocalization instead. Fibich did not imitate Wagners extended use of motive, but concentrated on a single aspect of the workand there, sovereignly musical, gave the structural weight to the singing voice. Like Wagner, Fibich gave tensile strength to the symphony orchestra, but he did not avoid melody that Wagner would consider unmelodic (Was in trivialer Musik Melodie heit, ist nach Wagner gerade nicht melodisch) (Dahlhaus, 1983, p. 73). Since Fibich avoided using leitmotivs structurally, he sometimes appeared to have no alternative but to present the voice in recitative over apparently meaningless chords (the purpose of chords in recitatives is to respond to the voice and intensify its effect, not to bear symbolic meaning). Fibichs use of Wagnerian unending melody often gives a first impression of emptiness. While working with the text, Fibich remained faithful to the declamatory rules of Otakar Hostinsk; as a result, his vocalization of text is extraordinary. Fibich fundamentally expanded the possibilities for grasping the essence of text during the 1890s. Yet the second love scene in Act II (after the announcement of Lambros death) is very close to Wagnerian models, for example, the explosive scene 2 of the second act of Tristan and the love scene between Siegmund and Sieglinde in Valkyre. Even the stage direction also appears in the corresponding scene in Hedy: the curtain quickly falls. Although the length of the scene in Hedy is not comparable to that of Wagners scene, its compressed vitality and ecstasy echo Wagners music. But even more, Fibich revealed his own self in the very construction of his opera. Although his melodies as are rather conventional recollections of the love motives in the third and fourth acts, the entire formulation of the meeting of Hedy and Juan in the second part of the first act and second act is subordinate dem ganzen reichen erotischen Themenmaterial (to all rich number of erotic themes) (Richter, 1900, p. 182). Despite of all of its varied forms, this material is remarkably compact. The fourth act is strikingly unified by the fishermans ballad. The rapid display of motives from the preceding acts may not be the most important aspect of the workFibich could have merely filled out what seemed to be a required Wagnerian pattern. However, Fibichs contemporary Leo Janek, who was scarcely recognized as a composer during the 1890s, published an analysis of Hedy. It discusses the compressed reprise of the second-act love scene, when Juan and Hedy part for ever. Janek was interested this musical compression, because it conveys profound experience: The result is an emotional, darkened passage which also absorbs A, C, and Fand all of this activity takes place in less than a minute. Another passage did not escape Janeks notice; significantly, he was then composing Jej pastorkyn (Her stepdaughter, Jenfa)Fibichs setting of Hedys cries: Milku mj! Juane! Mj choti! Ty! Ty! Ach, tys u mne! (My love! Juan! My mate! You! You! Ach, you are part of me!). Janek (1952) ended his review with the words: Here the composer turns to another source of inspiration for his melodies. This is not pure music but the truth of uncontrollable melodic speech (p. 309). But Fibichs own and more typical technique for setting the words was richly melodicized lines with a
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corresponding loss of syllabic coherence and with adaptations of closed forms. Janek did not adopt Fibichs style, but quite sincerely pointed out a compositional technique that could inspire Fibich. Janek (1952), particularly, called attention to the beginning of the final scene of the fourth act of Hedy: Dramatic expression is not entirely in command, for at the conclusion another compositional form appearsa two-part song (pp. 307-310). Fibich was successful as a Wagnerian in Janeks eyes for these reasons: The natural gifts that we in the Czech lands have, protect our composers from many eccentricities3. If Fibich has used full and rapid harmonic movement within closed forms, along with considerable expressivity of speech in a verismo arioso, the passage might have satisfied Janek. Janek chose remarkable details from Fibichs opera for discussion. However, the experience that Fibich and his librettist had with German drama also shaped their work. Lambro is comparable to Lysiart in Webers Euryanthe (1823). The octet with double choirs ist hier auch dramatisch gerechtfertigt, die Situation ist dieselbe, wie bei dem H-dur Ensemble im Tannhuser (is also here dramaturgically right, the situation is the same like in Tannhusers B major ansamble) (Richter, 1900, p. 197). Lambros four-measure phrase in that ensemble may well be reminiscent of the era in which classic Italian opera flourished4. Fibich paid homage to W. A. Mozart with two quotations from the overture of Don Giovanni, which is sung by Juan in the first act. But his ambitious librettist merely copied what Vrchlick had done in Fibichs previous opera Boue. After the premiere of Boue, Karel Knittl (1895) said: The vocal lines of Fernando and Miranda appear are satisfying from every point if view, even to a pandering to the taste of Italian cuisine (p. 95). It would have been difficult to portray the course of love objectively, especially with the elements of realistic comedy in the third act. The Greek theme was appropriate for the time, for verismo operas set in the hot-blooded, Mediterranean region were all the rage. But that sort of unrestrained temperament was foreign to Schulzov and Fibich. The entrance of the drunken Gregorios and the song of the young fisherman may have been composed as Greek songs (Schulzov, 1896). Nevertheless, Fibich used local color only to embellish certain passages and as an effective supplement, rather than an unified approach to musical structure that would serve as a counterpoint to the staged opera. The public must certainly have been impressed by magnificent grandeur of the production. In the first act, Juan rejoices in the rays of the sun after his escape from death; the second act requires the moon and stars, as well as a fiery red torch (which suddenly went out during the premiere at the report of Lambros death, leaving the stage dark) (Chvla, 1950, p. 402). The fourth act takes place at sunrise. The effect of the third act depends on sumptuous staging; even though the second act is set in a grotto, it has to be decorated with luxurious splendor (Schulzov, 1896, p. 21). The ballet is an integral part of this setting, which was strengthened by the demands of the director of Nrodn divadlo and the highly esteemed choreography of the famous dancer Augustin Berger. We might add that dances from Hedy were performed at the Nrodopisn vstava eskoslovansk 1895 (Ethnographical Czechslavonic Exhibition) as the work of a Czech composerremarkably, verismo exotico was combined with verismos origins, depicting rural life. The insertion of a ballet is far from the dramaturgical ideals
However, Janek commented scornfully on performances of Fibichs operas in 1916 and 1917, see Tyrrell (2007), p. 775. Fibich was aware (as R. Strauss was, when asking Hugo von Hofmannstahl to write a contemplative ensemble for Rosenkavalier) that the very moment when one might expect eine dramatische Bombe may be the very place for an overwhelming Ruhepunkt. Strauss used ensembles from Lohengrin and Die Meistersinger as examples (letter dated May 16, 1909; see Dahlhaus (1983), p. 33).
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of Wagnerian opera. Wagner was told to compose ein glnzendes Ballfest for the second act of Tristan, but he refused to compose it without hesitation and admitted that there would be fast gar nichts zu sehen (Dahlhaus, 1971, p. 76). If Schulzov and Fibich had not wanted to stage the great wedding tableau, they could easily have left it out. Hedy and Juan do not participate in the wedding festivities; they merely look on. They are part of a lively scene entirely organized by the people. There is a similar event in the ensemble. In Byrons version, Lambro surprises the lovers in privacy. In Hedys libretto, Lambro is stubborn before he detects Juans identity. During the contemplative ensemble, he suddenly began to behave according to custom and to have doubts.
Analytical Remark on Don Juans Aria

Giuseppe Verdi correctly feared that sophisticated compositions would become mere mosaics when adopted to the style of grand opra. At the end of the 19th century, there was nothing to prevent a less wary composer from using the entire palette of diverse operatic traditions. Hedy includes crowd scenes with ballet, contemplative ensemble, Wagnerians very intimate lovers duets, and rather conventional scenes for solo voice. Fibich had opened the second act of Boue with Fernandos monologue (for tenor). He then drew from the legacy of late 18th-century opera to compose a three-part da capo aria that would fit into the entire context, which drew from the opera buffa tradition. Fibich allowed A. Schulzov to write an analogous passage in Hedy, but he had a different solution in mind. He used the two-part aria form of Rossinibut as a compressed verismo arioso in arch form. The relatively long instrumental introduction develops the motive of love that echoes through Juans aria (see Figure 1). The andante fulfills the function of tempo dattacco; Juans senses are roused by his intense anticipation of Hedys arrival. The use of accompanied recitative enabled Fibich to respond directly to Juans exaltation. The cantabile is the Larghetto Kolem ticho, er, proda sn lsky sen (Its quiet, twilight, nature dreams loves dream), surges into the Con fuoco (cabaletta). This simple pattern is repeated once more, in shortened formAndante, Larghetto Mr vkol, vn, ticho (Peace all around, fragrance, quiet). The passionate climax on the motive of love (slast a blaho (delight and happiness)) substitutes for the closing stretta, and leads to Hedys duet with Juan (allegro moderato Ji jsi m ekal? Prahnouc du! (You are already expecting me? With passionate soul!)). Juans aria had already been analysed as a sonata form (Hudec, 1971, p. 135), but as Schulzov observed, it had a natural duple structure, a contrast of stormy passion (D flat major, Con fuoco) and quiet night (Richter, 1900, p. 186). The arsenal of motives in the Andante section includes a motive describing a bush and the flicker of Hedys shadow. Such motives are not intended to be Wagnerian leitmotivs. On the contrary, their entire purpose is to provide immediate reaction to every thought, every event, every emotionthis is also truth for the motive of the well to which Hedy ran in the first scene in order to revive Juan, then a bewildered, unknown foreigner. From the beginning of Juans entrance, Fibich did not hesitate to incorporate the interplay of his own relationship with A. Schulzov into the opera. At the words jej noka nn ji pjde tady (her dear legs do not yet know how to come here), a motive from the piano composition Dojem (Impression) No. 111 (March 24, 1893) appears5. A quotation from Dojem No. 80 (January 2, 1893adra, (bosom)) understandably is echoed in the passage: adra boun kde se dmou (her tempestuous bosom surges). Fibich did not seem to find it necessary to
Zdenk Nejedl called this little piece for piano nohy (legs), See Nejedl (1948), p. 181.
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assign an explicit motive to Juan. As a singer par excellence, Juan embodied all of the music referring to loves flame. His musical personality is an integral part of his voice, and the orchestra is responsive to it.
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Figure 1. Don Juans aria from the opera Hedy. Source: Adapted from Fr. A. Urbnek a synov, Praha U. 902 [s.d.], piano score.
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One could say that as Fibichs idealistic love becomes greater than the real world, idealistic dreams become greater than reality. And along with dreams, there is a new freedom to choose solutions that are greater than expected. Fibich was now able to merge historical, perhaps even outmoded forms (finale concertato, bel canto, double-aria, dance suite) with impressionistic harmony, and eventually with atonality in following opera rka. Jan Smaczny has found clear musical traces of G. Puccini in Fibichs opera rka (1897) (Smaczny, 1995, pp. 34-35). Fibich had already blazed the path to Puccini in Hedy. Its radical, geographically well-defined theme is blended with Wagnerian gestures of love ecstasy that can appear anywhere and continue without end. Fibich did not avoid inspiration from Italian opera when writing Hedy. In fact, he preferred his own collectors enthusiasm for Italian opera from the first half of the 19th century over conventional and fashionable verismo.
Verismo and Czech Composers

Two Czech operas in the immediately preceding yearsKarel Bendls opera Mti Mla, premiered in 1893, and Josef Richard Rozkon opera Stoja, premiered in 1894openly, and let us add, unsuccessfully tended toward versimo. Fibich remained sceptical about verismo. Schulzov herself had a dislike of themes of social criticism in rustic settings. Such themes definitely could not expect to find immediate acceptance: for example, the premieres of J. B. Foersters opera Eva, written in 1895-1897, and Leo Janeks Jej pastorkyn, written in 1894-1903, ran into difficulties (Ottlov, 2000, p. 81). Fibich admired Richard Wagners music, he continually followed opera development, and his ambitious librettist seemed to wishin conformance with an ideal of unsustainable progressto outdo all previous evolution of opera, and to vanquish all substantial operatic traditions. Fibich wanted to avoid a radical grip on the model of verismo opera. He cautiously developed an unobtrusive, sophisticated evocation of bel canto opera, which gave him compositional sureness. And since the director of Nrodn divadlo and the public wanted spectacular tableaus and heartfelt love stories, Fibich was able to proceed in the direction of the relatively homogeneous development of the genre of Opra-ferie represented by Wagners Tannhuser (1854), Gounods Faust (1859), Meyerbeers La Africane (1865), and Berliozs Les Troyens (1863). Using a showy plot with a Tristian-like ending, Fibich was easily able to combine principles of Musikdrama and historical opera in the form of a ballet opera (Ballettoper) (Dhring, 2006, pp. 239-240, 244).
Conclusions
The opera Hedy was written in the period, when Fibich as a mature author returned to the composition for music theatre after the unsuccessful premiere of the opera Nevsta messinsk (The Bride of Messina). Hedy was very well received, althought it bears clear hints of connection of heterogenous features. In Hedy Fibich put together fashionable veristic opera and Czech opera tradition, which tried to respect aesthetics of wagnerian music drama (so-called declamatory style). More over, concise veristic arioso stands in steep contrast to a ballet and finale concertato. A component, which assures artistic quality of Hedy is determined by the fact, that Fibich found a way for forming melodic line, which respects the declamatory rules of Czech word without losing pure musical sence. That is why Hedy could be received as a Czech Tristan as well as the second Don Giovanni written for Prague.
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References
Boreck, J. (1896). Hedy. Nrodn listy, 14(2), 9. Brandes, G. (1895). Lord Byron (A. Schulzov, Trans.). Zlat Praha. Chvla, E. (1950). Z mch pamt hudebnch I (From my musical memories). In J. Lwenbach, & J. M. Kvt (Red.), kabinet Zdeka Nejedlho (Zdenk Nejedls cabinet) (pp. 399-405). Praha: unpublished. Dahlhaus, C. (1983). Vom Musikdrama zur Literaturoper (From music drama to literary opera). Mnchen-Salzburg: Musikverlag Emil Katzbichler. Dahlhaus, C. (Ed.). (1971). Wagners sthetik (Wagners aesthetics). Bayreuth: Edition Musica Bayreuth. Dhring, S. (2006). Historische Oper in Paris (Historic opera in Paris). In Geschichte der Oper, Band 3Oper und Musikdrama im 19. Jahrhundert (Hostiry of opera, Vol. 3Opera and music drama in the 19th century) (S. Leopold, Red.) (Sieghart Dhring, Sabine Henze-Dhring). Laaber: Laaber Verlag. Fibich, Z. (s. d.). (n.d.). Hedy (piano score). Praha: F. A. Urbnek a synov, U. 902. Hudec, V. (1971). Zdenk Fibich. Praha: Sttn pedagogick nakladatelstv. Janek, L. (1952). Hedy Zdeka Fibicha, rka (Zdenk Fibichs Hedy. rka). In A. Rektorys (Ed.), Zdenk Fibich. Sbornk dokument a studi o jeho ivot a dle (Zdenk Fibich: Collected documents and studies of his life and work) (pp. 307-310). Praha: Orbis. Janek, L. (2003). Tristan a Isolda od Richarda Wangera (Tristan and Isolde by Richarda Wagner). In L. Janek, T. Strakov, & E. Drlkov (Eds.), Literrn dlo (18751928) (Vol. 1, pp. 61-64). Brno: Editio Janek. Knittl, K. (1895). Boue. Dalibor, 9(3), 95. Knittl, K. (1896). Fibichova opera Hedy. Dalibor, 22(2), 77-78. Kopeck, J. (2008). Opery Zdeka Fibicha z devadestch let 19. Stolet (Zdenk Fibichs operas from 1890s). Olomouc: Univerzita Palackho v Olomouci. Kopeck, J. (Ed.). (2009). Zdenk Fibich: Stopy ivota a dla (Zdenk Finich: Traces of his life and work). Olomouc: Univerzita Palackho v Olomouci. Kuna, M. (Red.). (1999). Antonn Dvok: korespondence (Antonn Dvok: Correspondence) (Vol. 7). Praha: Editio Brenreiter. Nejedl, Z. (1948). Zdeka Fibicha milostn denk (Zdenk Fibichs love diary) (p. 181). Praha: Melantrich. Novotn, V. J. (1951). Hedy. In A. Rektorys (Red.), Zdenk Fibich. Sbornk dokument a studi o jeho ivot a dle (Zdenk Fibich: Collected documents and studies of his life and work) (p. 170). Praha: Orbis. Ottlov, M. (2000). Jin svt hudby na pelomu stolet (Another world of music at the turn of the century). Hudebn vda (Musicology). Praha: Kabinet hudebn historie Etnologickho stavu Akademie vd esk republiky, v. v. i.. Piskek, A. (1910). Dva okamiky. Dalibor, 24(9), 349-350. Richter, C. L. (1900). Zdenko Fibich. Eine musikalische Silhouette (Zdenko Fibich. A musical Silhouette), Prag: Fr. A. Urbnek. Schulzov, A. (1896). Hedy (libretto). Praha: F. A. Urbnek. Smaczny, J. (1995). Czech Composers and Verismo. In M. Beckerman, & G. Bauer (Eds.), Janek and Cech Music. Proceeding of The International Conference. Stuyvesant, New York: Pendragon Press. Tyrrell, J. (2007). Janek: Years of a Life Volume. II. London: Faber and Faber.
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Dance and Negotiation of Identity: A Case Study From Northern Greece

Panopoulou Kaliopi
Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki, Serres, Greece
Papakostas Christos
University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Douma Maria
Greek Open University, Patras, Greek
This study focuses on a dance event (choroesperida = dance evening) in a small community in Northern Greece. The community comprises Dopioi (= locals) and Vlachs, who have lived in the same village since 1960, keeping watertight boundaries between each other. In this context, we shall try to show how a dance event can lift the impermeable boundaries between two ethnic groups, and how cultural identities at dance events of this kind become objects of negotiation and are transformed in the course of the performance. Keywords: dance, identity, negotiation, northern Greece, Serres
Introduction
That dance is a symbol of identity and consequently defines boundaries between social and cultural groups, is a commonly held view in anthropological approaches to it1. Furthermore, it has been ascertained that social structures do not convey meanings or messages. This is done by symbols. Consequently, in order to understand the collective consciousness of a community, it is essential to study its symbols, and one such symbol is dance (Alexakis, 1992, p. 71). Dance, as a cultural element, adapts to the changing conditions of society and culture. By focusing our ethnographic interest on the ball (choroesperida = dance evening) held by the Cultural Association of Oinousa, we shall try to show how, through a dance event, the third generation endeavors to moderate the cultural, political, and social differences within the community. Oinousa is a small village with a mixed communities2, located close to the town of Serres. The community comprises Dopioi (= locals) and Vlachs, who have lived in the same village since 1960, keeping watertight boundaries between each other.
Panopoulou Kaliopi, associate professor, Department of Physical Education & Sport Science, Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki. Papakostas Christos, lecturer, Department of Physical Education & Sport Science, University of Athens. Douma Maria, MSc student, Greek Open University. 1 See indicatively Giurchescu (2000) and Desmond (1997). 2 In the Prefecture of Serres, to which the village of Oinousa belongs, the logic of mixed villages applies mainly to those in the plains and has been associated more specifically with settlements in which the iflik system was imposed in Ottoman times, and in which there were non-Greek-speaking populations. By contrast, in the villages in the foothills of the surrounding mountains, there was no such cultural cohabitation in this period, since even in those villages from which people left, there was no subsequent settlement of incomers. With the installation of the Asia Minor refugees after 1922, all except one of the non-Greek-speaking villages in the Lower Strymon basin became mixed, See Lafazani (1997). However, there is reference to the co-existence of Vlachs and locals in the area of Mount Menoikios from the early 20th century.
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DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

We were not in concord with the locals. They were inferior to us We even held our religious feasts separately. We attended mass together and then we danced in different venues The Vlachs were in our face all our life. They took our village (Chionochori) and then, when we came down to Oinousa, they came here too. No way would we give a girl (in marriage) to or take a girl (in marriage) from the Vlachs With them everything is different dances, songs, customs, costume3
Here we shall try to show how a dance event can lift the impermeable boundaries between two ethnic groups, and how cultural identities at dance events of this kind become objects of negotiation and are transformed in the course of the performance. However, the lifting of the strict boundaries between the cultural groups does not necessarily entail the disappearance of pre-existing collective identities, as some researchers tend to argueprobably starting from acceptance of the
4
simplistic
bipolar
explanatory
model
of
assimilation-preservation of imperviousness and identity . Specifically, in mixed communities the symbolic and the cultural boundaries are not broken down, and, as studies by several anthropologists point out, the boundaries are kept despite the flow of people between them (Agelopoulos, 1997). In traditional society, in addition to weddings, important dance events were religious feasts (panigyria) and celebrations. The religious feast was for the rural communityand for the urban in many instancesan opportunity for rest and respite from the daily round. Dance was and is the central component of the religious feast, an opportunity for individuals to present themselves through these festive practices and to be evaluated by the others. Dance was not merely a form of entertainment (Avdikos, 2004), it was a basic vehicle for the process of socialization through touch, which is why people of both sexes considered dance events as advantageous opportunities for assessing the possibilities of future marriages. Change in social conditions, with mass migration to the urban centre of Serres, removed the social framework of the aforesaid events. Dance was transferred to venues of entertainment and balls are the most important event in the winter calendar of Cultural Associations. The very word ball alludes to some kind of grandeur. The ball began in the prewar years as a social event of the haute bourgeoisie in Athens and gradually spread to the provinces, incorporating foreign dances alongside the Greek ones5. However, in the region of Serres, the term ball was not adopted fully and was soon replaced by the term dance in its wider sense. Thus, in addition to its narrow sense, the term dance means also the group of dancers and the dance event, which may last several hours and at which dance, food, entertainment and sanctity are interwoven in an event in which dance has pride of place (Zografou, 2001). According to Cowan (1990):
This type of dance event has a characteristic organization of the space, time and activities. It is an activity in which the gathering of the inhabitants of the community is not accidental, but is to a degree staged by an association, where the organizers can intervene and modify the usual practices for good mood. The arrangement of the persons and the objects in the dance, and the flow of the dance are regulated, so that an order enters the experience of the celebrants. (pp. 134-136)
Even though the outcome is in the last analysis indeterminate (oore, 1977, p. 219), the event is normally organized, so that it moves from an initial emphasis on formality, restriction and hierarchy, towards an
3 4
Interview with a local resident of Oinousa, September 24, 2004. For issues of identity in general, see Hall & Gay (1996); Loutzaki (1999). The Association as Milieu for dance activity. In Music of Thrace. An interdisciplinary approach: Evros. 5 For these kinds of balls see Cowan (1990).
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atmosphere without formalities, with dominations, disorder, and lack of hierarchy; in other words, an atmosphere of anti-structure (Turner, 1969). The special circumstance that helped us to formulate the problem and to understand the dance event is that for the first time after coexistence in the same space for almost half a century, Dopioi and Vlachs have formed a village Cultural Association and created a dance troupe in which young people from both groups, Dopioi and Vlachs, participate: Eleni (Dopia) and Tania (Vlach) (2004) make the following comments:
The dance troupe should have been formed long ago, thus breaking down the differences between us. We too wanted to take part in cultural events organized by the Prefecture but how would we go? As Dopioi or as Vlachs? When we want to say we in Oinousa, what do we mean by we? Which we, Dopioi or Vlachs? (personal interview, February 6, 2004)
The community, despite the conflicts within it, regulates by negotiation its relations with the collectivities, thus, securing the conditions demanded for its conservation and reproduction (Lafazani, 1997, p. 104). This is obvious in the discourse of the younger people of the community, from both the ethnic groups (Vlachs & Dopioi),
For the community to continue to exist and to be maintained, it must have satisfactory reasons for this, and it aims to develop also the appropriate cultural and social relations On the contrary, bad relations (in their opinion) have negative effects on peoples potential and trap them in the social margin. (personal interview, September 22, 2004)
The young people of the village, whose concept of social relations differs from that of their elders, have tried to temper the impermeable and impassable boundaries between the two groups by creating the Cultural Association 6 , as well as through marriage practices 7 . It is their common decision to present through the association a supra-local dance repertoire, so constructing, in a way, a new dance identity which will represent the community to the outside world, to the others. However, in addition to the activities of the association, both Vlachs and Dopioi cleave to their own morals and mores, and at social events, each presents their own dances and songs too. Vlachs can join the Vlach Cultural Association Yorgakis Olympios of the Prefecture of Serres, based in the town of Serres, which is the hive of activity for all the Vlachs in the prefecture. The differences between Dopioi and Vlachs focus on language, dance practice, and traditional costume which for each community has particular value and symbolism. Their dance, a unity of word, sound, and movement, which the members of each population group have processed orally, fulfilled a series of functions, transmitting information on the identity of the dancer and the modes of differentiation of the two sexes. Concurrently, it classified the age categories, the familial and social status, the ceremonial capacity, or even how kinesis is managed as formal and informal, sacred and secular. By confronting dance mainly as process8, the present study aims to reveal the multiple meanings, messages,
6 The association is an organized group of people with common aims, the founding of which is linked mainly with the initiatives of individuals who originate from one place and are active in creating a cultural cell of local or supra-local ambit. As an institution, it has supported multiple readings, most of which converge on: (1) the continuity and unity of Hellenism; (2) the economic support of the community; and (3) the education and entertainment of its members. see Loutzaki (1999). The Association as Milieu for Dance Activity. In Music of Thrace (p. 230). 7 In recent years, the first marriages between Vlachs and Dopioi have taken place, cautiously, despite the objections of the older members of the community. 8 That is a living organism, which is created, develops, resists influences, is altered, continues to exist, resists, dies, relives, is transformed, completes, supports (Loutzaki, 1998, p. 216).
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and symbolisms that are inscribed in the dance practices, and how through these the various collectivities negotiate their identity. Methodologically, the present study is based on fieldwork and participant observation. Specifically, we attended the annual balls of the Cultural Association of Oinousa, from 2002 to 2005. These balls were videoed and interviews were held with several informants, who: (1) were involved in various phases of organizing and promoting the balls; (2) were associated with the dance activity of the association; and (3) were not only older and participated in the audience, but also as dancers-merrymakers. In the present study, the annual ball of 2005 is described and analyzed.
The Community
The community of Oinousa is built in the southern foothills of Mount Menoikios, at an altitude of 130 m., and lies seven km. east of the town of Serres. It was established in 1927 by the mass relocation of Dopioi inhabitants of the neighbouring village of Chionochori. The Byzantine name of Oinousa9 was Trevaisena, later Dervaisiani (Samsaris, 1998). According to both Dopioi10 and Vlach11, members of the community, Oinousa is named after wine (Gr. oinos). When the locals lived in Chionochori (Karliko), they cultivated many vines and produced considerable quantities of wine.
And here, a little further up, we had the vineyards, Thats also why we gave the name Oinousa, from the wine. If wed had a little sense, we could have carried on tending vines and become wine-producers, but. The church of the On the basis of the handmade potsherds observed on the surface of the adjacent Begos hill, we deduce that the area was inhabited from prehistoric times. The finding of a Roman cemetery and the remnants of fortifications of the same period, on the top of Vlaselnikos hill leave no doubt about the later founding of a Roman vicus and fort. The site continued to be inhabited without interruption in the Byzantine Age, as attested by the Byzantine single-aisled chapel south of the village, as well as during the period of Ottoman rule, see Samsaris (1988). 10 Dopios is a term used for a population category of autochthons. This tern has, of course, its own historical provenance, which is linked with the distinction between autochthons and refugees. In the Serres region, according to Papakostas (2007), two categories of Dopioi can be distinguished: those who spoke only Greek, who are to be found in the area of Mount Pangaion, the Darnakochoria, the area of Nigrita and the area of the town of Serres, and thouse who spoke a particular Slav linguistic idiom, which in the wider region of Serres was called Voulgarika (= Bulgarian). They call themselves Dopioi, wishing to emphasize their long relation with and their historically founded rights to the land and the region. From fieldwork as well as from textual sources, it emerges that in the early 20th century the inhabitants of Chionochori were Dopioi Orthodox Christians who spoke Voulgarika. However, according to oral testimonies, their Mass in the church was celebrated in Greek. After the demarcation of the frontiers in 1913, several of them left for Bulgaria. A significant number of Dopioi left also during the Civil War, abandoning their properties. The enlarged Greek State in the early 20th century was constituted around the central ideological axis of Greek ethnicity (Hellenikotita). Any deviations from the structural elements of Hellenikotita (religion, doctrine, and language) were deemed problematical. The remaining Dopioi of Chionochori, in claiming their Hellenikotita welcomed the Greek school and the teacher, and sided with the Greek case. Today, the Dopioi have been incorporated fully in Greek society and what distinguishes from the others is cultural differences. On the basis of personal observations, it seems that the Slav linguistic idiom is used only by the very old as language of the house, as an act of nostalgia and proof of emotional association with their tradition, ancestors and folk culture. The young people declare that they do not understand to the linguistic idiom of their grandparents. 11 In Greece, the Vlachs are an ethnic group with distinctive cultural differentiations. Historical circumstances in Greece, as well as in the wider region of the Balkans, resulted in the creation of bilingual populations. The Vlachs are bilingual, speaking Greek and Vlach (a Latin idion). In the region of Serres, the main mass of Vlachs originates from Avdella and Grammousta in western Macedonia, forming two respective groups, the Avdellians and the Grammoustians. A smaller number comes from Aspropotamos near Trikala, Livadi on Olympos and from other parts of Epirus. In the late 18th and early 19th century, they settled in the Serres region, either co-existing with other population categories or founding pure Vlach villages in the north part of the Prefecture, on the slopes of mounts Belles and Menoikios. Up until the 1960s, they were herders, with a nomadic or transhumant way of life. Today, the number of sheep and goats has decreased appreciably and most Vlachs have moved to the urban centres of Serres and Thessalonica, finding employment in other sectors. For the Vlachs in the Prefecture of Serres in general, see Panopoulou (2001).
9
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Saints Anargyroi at Chionochori was built by us. Because we had no water, our people made the mortar for the bell tower with wine. (personal interview, March 23, 2003)
According to the 2001 census, 485 persons are registered in the community, several of whom reside in the town of Serres. Concurrently, several people from Serres have built permanent homes in the community. In its spatial layout, Oinousa is divided into two settlements: the old settlement, which is on the south side of the village and consists of one-storey or two-storey houses that were built in the 1930s; and the new one, in the north part of the village, which consists of two-storey houses built in the late 1960s, when Chionochori was abandoned completely. In the lower neighborhood, around the church, are the houses of the Vlachs, who are either those who stayed in Oinousa after the civil war or those who took the houses of local fugitives in the early 1950s. However, the houses actually belong to Dopioi, because when they first settled in the village they had their warehouses there, which they converted into houses in which to live. The upper neighborhood includes houses built by Vlachs who abandoned Chionochori in 1968. The Vlachs settled in the north of the village out of necessity, since for many yearsand even todaymost of them were herders and access to the mountain and their sheep pens were easier from there. Today, with the assistance of the Municipality of Serres, an enormous modern stock-raising park has been created and the byres/stables have been moved away from the courtyards of the houses. The Dopioi were agriculturalists. They owned small tracts of cultivable land at the foot of the mountain, where they also had small barns in which they stored their harvests. The ethnic division of laborherding (Vlachs)/agriculture (Dopioi)ascribes to the former a sense of cultural superiority. In addition to the Dopioi and the Vlachs, several Serraians have built luxurious homes on the north side of the village, attracted by the good climate and natural beauty, as well as the fact that Oinousa is only 10 minutes away from the town of Serres. This has brought an escalation in the price of building land. In 1968, the church of the Saints Anargyroi was built in the old square between the two settlements. The community office was also built a short distance to the north, resulting in a shift of the village centre. There are two cafeterias in Oinousa, frequented by middle-aged and young people, on belonging to a Vlach and one to a Dopios, which are known respectively as upper and lower12. Today, the division of labor is to a lesser degree ethnically determined and the bipolar opposition stock raising (Vlachs)/agriculture (Dopioi) has been transformed into the corresponding wage labor self-employed/farming (Kalignomos, 2003, pp. 50-88). This fact enhances the greater degree of adaptability shown by the Vlachs to the new urban milieu of the region, which began to take shape after 198013.
The Dance Event: The Associations Annual Ball (2005)

The 2005 annual ball of the Oinousa Cultural Association was to be held on Monday 26 December, at 8 p.m., at the Potamaki restaurant, the day before we made arrangements with friends to go to the dance. At the
12 It is worth noting that 1,500 m north of the community is the location Phaneromeni. On the south, steep and abrupt limestone scarp of the precipitous Vlaselnikos hill, within a shallow rock-shelter at a height of about 5.5 m above the ground, is a Byzantine wall-painting of the Virgin Hodegetria, with the Christ-child on her right hand (dexiokratousa), accompanied by two angels. The fresco is in poor condition, due to human destruction and the effects of the elements. 13 It is characteristic that in a table given by Kallignomos (2003), it is mentioned that in 1999, of a total of 74 Vlach households, 10 were involved in agriculture and stock raising, 15 with trade and free-lance professions, 20 with wage labor, while 29 were pensioners. The corresponding figures for Dopioi were 37, 4, 14, and 16.
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entrance to the restaurant, we were welcomed by the lady members of the committee, who were stunningly dressed. They seated us at the table reserved for official guests, because our company included the Mayor of Serres. The room was rather small for events of this kind. At the entrance to the venue was a lovely Christmas tree bedecked with colorful baubles and at the windows were twinkling fairy-lights. The columns in the room were also decorated for the festive season. People began gathering, and in less than half an hour the room was almost full. The satisfaction of the committee members was obvious. The association ball is a collective celebration and the young people of the community have struggled considerably to establish it and to attract as many people as possible. Maria, a Dopia member of the committee, commented:
For the past month, Ive been going to my people, from house to house, to deliver invitations and to persuade them that they must come to the ball. I faced difficulties because many of our people dont accept the founding of the Association, since we had a Cultural Association before and it dissolved, because the Vlachs wanted to dance only their own dances at performances, and we left, we didnt agree to it. (personal interview, April 20, 2005)
The committee members, whose chief concern is to get the participation of all inhabitants of the community, with the aim of projecting its collective image to the others, are acutely aware of how each person faces the situation prevailing in the community. The absence of those who could participate in an event such as this but are not present is considered as declaring their lack of support. For the committee members, the large participation of people confirms the Associations strength. It is also a precondition for exuberance and high spirits (kefi), which if kindled, will be cited as proof of this strength. Almost all the companies were made up of couples; most of them were linked by ties of kinship rather than of friendship or neighborliness. However, all belonged to the same ethnic group. The kinship model that is emphasized at this event, the patriarchal nuclear family, has an explicitly petit-bourgeois character. It included the man, head of the household or the family, who takes his wife out to have a good time. Whereas at the wedding feast, for example, kinship relations are emphasized, here the nuclear family is projected as an autonomous economic and social unit (Cowan, 1990). In the additional classifications, concerning the placement in space, division by generations could be discerned. Younger persons were sitting at the tables at the back of the room, while the more elderly were sitting at the front tables. There was also a division between the Vlachs of the town and the Vlachs of the village, whereas the Dopioi were sitting all together. Several men passed by our table and greeted the Mayor Serresprimarily those who vote for himand then went on to greet friends or relatives at other tables. The women remained seated in strictly formal position. They were dressed up to the nines for the occasion. After all, an important aspect of the self-presentation of a woman celebrant at this dance is the way in which she literally embodies signs or symbols of her familys affluence, through the clothes and jeweler she is wearing. The practice of conspicuous display of the familys good clothes on the womens bodies, with basic space of display the space where people dance, is deeply rooted in the traditional culture of Greece (Cowan, 1990). The president of the Cultural Association welcomed the guests, and after announcing the purposes for which the event was being held, as well as the aims of the association, he introduced the Associations dance teacher. The dance teacher, in his turn, introduced the band, which was at the back of the dance floor and comprised a
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clarinet, a harmonium, drums, a violin, and a laouto, the player of which was also the singer. There was a bouzouki on one chair, indicating that it would be used later for playing another kind of music. Scene 1: The Dance The little children of the Association, about 15 girls and boys, appeared first. The young dancers looked around them somewhat embarrassedly, in the hope of spotting someone they knew. When the teacher gave the signal, they started to dance. The first dance was a syrtos sta tria14, the second a chasapia15, and the third a Thracian dance the podaraki16. The audience applauded the little dancers, who then left the floor, and the dance troupe came on. It was made up of young girls and older women, in Vlach and Dopies costumes, mixed up in the circle. There were no males in the dance group, as youths and older men refused to take part in the Associations activities. However, Vlachs originating from Oinousa but who live in Serres are active members of the Vlach Cultural Association based in the town. The Vlach females were more light and airy in appearance than the Dopies. This image was enhanced by the Vlach costume, particularly, the dress, made of cerise hand-woven cloth, and with multiple pleats (lagiolia). We were told that all the costumes were authentic. On the head, they wore a small cap embellished with colored beads and gold coins (flouria), over which was the kerchief, which too was brightly colored and elaborately tied. Rows of flouria hung on the chest, the number of rows showing the economic standing of each girl. The apron was of velvet with lavish lace trims and around the waist was a fine beadwork belt. The knitted hose were multi-colored and the shoes black. By contrast, the costumes of the Dopies were replicas of old ones. We were told that no authentic costumes exist and the new ones made were based on old photographs or certain garments/accessories that had survived as heirlooms. The costume comprises a long dress to just above the ankle, over which is worn a black sleeveless jacket, the sayaki, bordered all round with three rows of red braid. On the head is a silk kerchief of the same color as the apron, on the right side of which, just above the ear, is affixed a small spray of flowers. Though beautiful, these costumes gave the women a more restrained mien. The dance teacher presented the program of the dance troupe, which included dances from both mainland and island Greece. Vlach dances which define the dance identity of the Vlachs in the Prefecture of Serres, as well as dances of the Dopioi of Oinousa were not danced. This was in fact one of the terms set at the founding of the new Cultural Association. The zonaradikos (Loutzaki, 1983, p. 85), syrtos sta tria (Zografou, 2001), trechatos (Prantsidis, 2005, p. 193), lytos (Prantsidis, 2005, p. 256), baidouska (Prantsidis, 2005, p. 105), Makedonikos syrtos (Prantsidis, 2005, p. 205) and, last, the Makedonikos antikrystos (Prantsidis, 2005, p. 253) made up the dance repertoire, which was performed with great gusto. The handhold depended on the
14 Characteristic dance of the region of Epirus, to three-beat, or even four-beat rhythm. It is danced also in western Macedonia, Thessaly, and central Greece. It should be noted that motif of the dance is one of the most basic kinetic schemes that are encountered in all regions of Greece, irrespective of names, rhythm or other differences, see Prantsidis (2005), p. 261. 15 A dance encountered all over Thrace, as well as in Macedonia. It has a two-beat rhythm, sometimes accompanied by instrumental music and sometimes by song. It is danced by men and women, see Prantsidis (2005), p. 88. 16 A dance danced by refuges from northern Thrace at Kitrous, Pieria, who originate from the village of Bana. It is danced in an open circle by men and women, mixed, who hold hands with arms stretched downwards, see Prantsidis (2005), p. 125.
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dance. At the end, after most of the female dancers had left the dance floor, a couple consisting of two girls, one Vlach and the other Dopia, remained briefly, dancing one opposite the other, and then left, to return in a short while wearing strikingly modern clothes. Scene 2: Dancing All Together The president of the Association then spoke and invited the official gueststhe two parliamentary deputies from the Prefecture of Serres, the Mayor of the town of Serres and representatives of Cultural Associations in neighbouring villagesto open the dance17. The band began to play a syrtos. At first, the mayor and the parliamentary deputies accompanied not the members of the committee, but a few persons who are distinguished symbolically from the rest of the celebrants by age, gender, and office. Among these, three were Vlachs and one was Dopios. Two of them were former presidents of the Community of Oinousa, prior to its inclusion in the Municipality of Serres with the Capodistrias reform of local government, while the third was one of the most economically powerful. The others gave them this priority. The committee members encouraged the others too to join the dance, and so the circle began gradually to enlarge. At first, most of the participants were females, while the males remained seated as spectators. Each person who got up to dance did not join the circle immediately but waited until a relative or friend passed in front of him, in order to take hold. In this phase, the grouping was based more on ethnic groups than on sexes. The band did not play a specific tune, but a continuous medley in the syrtos rhythm. At regular intervals the musicians also played some Thracian melodies (Thrakiotika), which are particularly popular in the wider region. This did not go on for very long, because the dance and the music repertoire then changed. Popular (laika) songs and dances, and tsiftetelia replaced the traditional ones. In this phase, there was not one single circle, instead there were small groups, the one dancing opposite the other. A woman can only participate in dances of this kind if there are relatives or friends of hers on the dance floor. Around midnight, which is very early for an event of this kind, the first companies of Dopioi began to take their leave. When we stood up to say goodbye to one such company, George Dopios, the oldest person in it, said to us: We simply compromise. When we asked him why he did not dance, since he was such a good dancer, he replied: These arent our dances and I dont know them. Maria, a Dopia dancer who showed great interest in keeping the Association going and heard the discussion, commented: This way, things are better. The older people may not be satisfied, but we want to dance. I dont like them commenting that we cant agree on the dance. Well show our identity at our weddings and our own events. The evening continued with the same repertoire. Later, the band played a heavy zeibekikos. The president of the association, who was a Vlach, went onto the dance floor and began to twirl and sway to the rhythm of the music. Almost all those still at the venue kneeled around him and clapped their hands to the beat. As the music changed, two young menthis time Dopioicontinued the dance. None of the women were clapping hands. The closed society of Oinousa did not allow women to breach the local sexist constants.
Cowan remarks: The expression open the dance merits our attention. The verb to open is not just a poetic way of saying to begin, but recalls propitious openings (for example the bride who opens her house, as well as spring itself. The term dance is also ambiguous, even though it refers of course to the dance event as a whole, the opening takes place graphically and once again non-verballywith one dance Cowan (1990).
17
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As ethnographers of Greece have observed, the zeibekikos is a dance through which men create their individual identity, always on behalf of a more general entity, of their family, village or circle of companions (Pipyrou, 2004, p. 57). It is the dance of the wise guy (mangas), which promotes the dancers masculinity and the egoism18. When the president ended his dance and sat down at the table, he said to us:
If you want to see Vlach dances, come to our dance, which will be held next month. There we dance only Vlach dances (Vlachika), all night long until the morning. If we Vlachs dont hear the clarinet, we dont feel that we are dancing. For us, the dance is interwoven with the song. Youve seen what happened here? They all got up and left. (personal interview, November 12, 2004)
Even though the purpose of organizing the dance was to bring together the two ethnic groups and to project a group of dances accepted by all to the outside world, internal discriminations were not avoided completely. The evening was apparently not to the liking of the older people, who were not satisfied by the kind of music and songs. On the contrary, the young people, although at first they kept some distance from one another, ended up, after the older people had left, all dancing together.
Conclusions
The ethnographic paradigm of Oinousa raises many questions and lends itself to multiple readings of the dance phenomenon. One first ascertainment is that the dance offers fertile ground for cultivating a peculiar sense of collectivity in a community with discrete ethnic groups. This is possible through practices of tempering the ethnic differences (Alexakis, 1992). However, this presupposing is a dynamic process of negotiation, in which the cultural symbols which cause tensions have to be downgraded. Thus, the choice of dances in the program of the dance troupes that appear is by no means fortuitous. This is a corpus of dances which was constituted and promoted through the mechanisms of the Greek nation state. Climax of these mechanisms was education, through which was promoted the concept of a single and solid national dance culture (Loutzaki, 2008; Manos, 2002; Papakostas, 2007b), in which dance difference lies only at the level of form and there is no mention of cultural otherness. The practices of the cultural-dance associations, whose activity is based on a romantic rhetoric about tradition, move in the same direction. In the case of the dance groups that participated in the ball, we observe that a panhellenic and in general terms an a-local dance repertoire is mobilized19, and not a program of pure Vlach or Dopioi dances. This tactic aims at neutralizing and immobilizing the concept of localness. For this reason, the Cultural Association does not project the particular ethnic dance identity of the Vlachs or the Dopioi, so as to avoid giving the one primacy over the other. It seems, however, that in the free glendi too in the context of the ball, a common dance formation is shaped, which promotes the hybrid communication between Vlachs and Dopioi. Parts of this formation are the syrtos, the tsifteteli, the laiko, the zeibekiko, as well as dance forms familiar (Papakostas, 2007a) to both ethnic groups (e.g.: Thrakiotika). However, the dances, which are performed at balls, present homogeneous and panhellenic characteristics, since they were configured through local societies contact with urban models and modernity in
18
For the concept of egoism in the ethnographic paradigm of Greece, see Campbell (1964), Herzfeld (1985), Cowan (1990), and Kirtsoglou (2004). 19 For a critique of the term, see Papakostas (2007).
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general. This new convention, through homogenization of the merrymaking process, sets a new framework of discussion between the ethnic groups of Oinousa, in which the tensions between them are defused temporarily. In conclusion, we observe that there exists in the mixed communities a wide field of inter-ethnic syntheses, competitions, conflicts and negotiations. Folk culture, specifically dance, is a dynamic domain of expressing the above phenomena. Through dance events, the individual ethnic groups endeavor to enhance their particular identity and to realign ethnic relations. It emerges from the ethnographic paradigm of Oinousa that this process is not fulfilled and is articulated with the historical and cultural context prevailing each time. Dance as a cultural phenomenon whose performance is placed outside daily life, offers the preconditions for extracting some conclusions on the relations and the ambitions of the individual ethnic groups of Oinousa. In the case of Oinousa, the modern dance phenomenon of the ball sets a new framework of constituting the cultural identity of the mixed community. What is at stake in this process is the projection of an imagined dance identity, through decolorizing the individual ethnicities.
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Loutzaki, I. (2008). Dance as propaganda: The Metaxas regimes stadium ceremonies,1937-1940. In A. Shay (Ed.), Balkan dance: Essays on characteristics, performance and teaching (pp. 89-115). Jefferson, N.C.: Mc Farland Publishers. Manos, I. (2002). Visualising culture-demonstrating identity (Doctoral thesis. Hamburg: Hamburg universitt). Moore S, F., & Myerhoff, B. G. (Eds.). (1977). Secular ritual . Amsterdam: Van Gorcum. Nitsiakos, V. (2004). H diahirisi tis ethnikis taftotitas meso tis mousikohoreftikis paradosis. Ena paradigma apo tin elliniki mionotita tis Alvanias (The management of ethnic identity through the music and dance tradition. A case from the Geek minority of Albania). In Horos ke Politismikes taftotites sta Valkania (Dance and borders in Balkan). Praktika 3ouSinedriou (Proceedings of 3rd conference). (ed. Panopoulou Kalliopi) Serres: T.E.F.A.A. Serron ke Dimos Serron, 363-372. Panopoulou, K. (2001). H horeftiki taftotita ton Vlachon tou N. Serron. Diarkia ke tomes (The dance identity of the Vlachs of Serres prefecture. Continuity and ryptures) (doctoral thesis, Serres: Department of Sports Science and Athletics, Aristotle University of Thessalonica). Papakostas, C. (2007a). Horeyftiki-Mousiki Taftotita ke Eterotita: I periptosi ton Roma tis Iraklias tou N. Serron (Dance and music identity and otherness: The case of the Roma in Iraklia Serres) (Ph.D. thesis, Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology/University of Thessaly). Papakostas, C. (2007b). Repertoire: Theory vs. practice: The Greek paradigm. Rethinking theory and practice (pp. 374-378). Proceedings of International Symposium on Dance Research, Paris. Papakostas, C. (2008). Dance and place: The case of a Roma community in northern Greece. In A. Shay (Ed.), Balkan Dance. Essays on Characteristics, Performance and Teaching (pp. 69-88). Jefferson, N.C.: Mc Farland Publishers. Pipyrou, S. (2004). To lipothimise to tsamiko: I diapragmatefsitis emfilis taftotitas, tis somatopiimenis mnimis ke tis istorias mesa apo horeftikes epitelesis stin Kalloni Grevenon (To lipothimise to tsamiko: The negotiation of gender identity, the body memory and history through dance performances in Kaloni Grevena). In K. Panopoulou (Ed.), Horos ke Politismikes taftotites sta Valkania. Praktika 3ou Sinedriou. (Proceedings of 3rd conference) (pp. 53-60). Serres: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sience & Municipalty of Serres. Prantsidis, G. (2005). O horos stin elliniki paradosi ke h didaskalia Tou.Eginio (Dance in Greek tradition and its teaching). Pierias: Ekdotiki Eginiou. Ronstrm, O. (1989). The dance event: A terminological and methodological discussion of the concept. In L. Torp (Ed.), Proceedings of the 15th Symposium ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology. Copenhagen: ICTM. Samsaris, P. (1998). Agnosti Vizantini tixografia stin periohi ton Serron (Unknown byzantine mura; in the refion of Serres). Vizadina, 14. Thessaloniki. Stone, R. (1982). Let the inside be sweet: The interpretation of music event among the Kpelle of Liberia. Bloominghton: Indiana University Press. Torp, L. (1989). The dance event: A complex cultural phneomenon. In Torp L. (Ed.). Proceedings of the 15th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Ethonochoreology. Copenhagen. Turner, V. (1969). The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Zografou, M. (2001). Verbal and non-verbal in motion. In K. Panopoulou (Ed.), Melodia, logos, kinisi (Melody, speech, movement). Praktika 2ou Sinedriou. (Proceedings of 2nd conference) (pp. 51-60). Serres: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sience & Municipalty of Serres.
D
Giulio Girondi
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Gothic Heritage in Renaissance Mantua
Il RioEdizioni, Mantua, Italy
The aim of this paper is to present the less known phenomenon of late-Gothic Mantuan architecture in the second half of the 15th century. Indeed Mantua is famous for its Renaissance monuments. However, some of the Gonzaga palaces show Gothic details, such as towers or battlements. In addition, some patricians, merchants, and priests continued to follow the Gothic tradition until the final decade of the Quattrocento. This paper will present a first list of these interesting architecturesboth public and private, religious and profanewhich, in some cases and despite the Gothic language, the archival research has demonstrated a late 15th century executions. Keywords: Gothic heritage, Renaissance, Mantua, Gonzaga
Introduction
Mantua is well-known for its Renaissance monuments, built under the supervision of the Gonzaga family from the middle of the 15th century. Indeed, Ludovico II Gonzaga wanted that leading artists and architectssuch as Andrea Mantegna and Leon Battista Albertijoin his court to transform the capital of the small marquisate into an international art center. On the other hand, if several patricians started to imitate the new allantica style promoted by the Gonzaga court, otherssuch as noblemen, merchants and priestscontinued to follow the Gothic tradition until the last decade of the Quattrocento. For example, the church dedicated to the Madonna della Vittoria (1496) seems very important: Beyond its Gothic faades, this church originally housed the well-known altarpiece by Mantegna (now at Louvre) and important Renaissance frescoesjust rediscovered by recent restorationsalmost certainly noted by Vasari (1568) who suggested that also the interior architecture of the small church was designed by Mantegna. This is not the only example of Gothic heritage in Renaissance Mantua: The church of San Cristoforothat showed a venetian-inspired faadewas almost certainly began in the 1470s, when works at Albertis Sant Andrea were just started. Moreover, we should mention also private chapels, such as the one of the Striggi family in the church of Santa Maria della Carit. New archival evidencesas the testament of Giovanni Striggipermit us to date this Gothic architecture to 1486.
The Palaces of Ludovico II Gonzaga and the Medieval Tradition

The City of Mantua at the Beginning of the Renaissance During the second half of the 15th century, and especially after the Diet of 1459 convened by pope Pius II, Ludovico II Gonzaga instigated a real Renovatio Urbis in Mantua (Calzona, 2011, pp. 17-44). The Marquis of
Giulio Girondi, Ph.D., Il RioEdizioni, Mantua.
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Mantua undertook a series of interventions in the new antique, or allantica style. In particular, Ludovicos intent was to beautify the piazzasfollowing the tenets echoed in the seventh book of the De Re Edificatoria (1452)to rebuild the city palaces, and to build the Casa del Mercato; in addition, the Marquis substituted the abbey of Sant Andrea with a new public place of worship which was to be ideally connected to the church of San Sebastiano at the other end of the city. In short, the prince established his personal patronage over the main symbols of political, economic, social, and religious life in Mantua (Bianchi & Carpeggiani, 2006, p. 31). This campaign of transformation of the city, also pursued by Ludovicos heirs, was further developed by the towns nobility with the construction (or restructuring) of their family residences (Ferlisi, 2002, pp. 297-326). Moreover, Renaissance painters were already active in Mantua towards the end of the first half of the 15th century, before the arrival of Andrea Mantegna, who had moved to Virgils home city towards the end of 1459, being already in contact with the Marquis Ludovico II since 1457 (LOccaso, 2006a, pp. 46-57). The Palace of Ludovico II Gonzaga at Revere In this context, we can expect that the allantica style was almost only used in courtly art and architecture patronized by the Gonzaga. However, most of the new buildings executed under Ludovico II Gonzaga were the result of a felicitous encounter between the medieval tradition and the humanist rediscovery of the ancient Roman home (Rossari & Scotti, 2005; Scotti, 2001), and, in particular, the Vitruvian sequence consisted of an arched entrance and courtyard with a colonnade which would be developed by Leon Battista Alberti (Fiore, 2006, p. 99). First of all, we should consider the Marquis palaces, such as the one at Revere, the castle on the Po cited by Filarete (Calzona, 2002, pp. 257-277). The construction of this building must have started at least from 1447 by Antonio Manetti, subsequently, taken over, from 1451 by the Florentine Luca Fancelli under the strict supervision of the Ludovico II Gonzaga (Carpeggiani, 2004, pp. 216-247). At Revere, the suggestions derived from Vitruvius are articulated in the light of the political ambitions of the Gonzaga, his courtly world and its medieval traditions: For example, the courtyard becomes a space for the representation of life at court. Moreover, we should also consider that this courtyard is characterized by both a Renaissance lay-out and late-Gothic Venetian capitals. We should also mention the main faade (see Figure 1). Here, we find both windows and portals derived from the Tuscan Renaissance and towers, tall chimneys and battlementseven if fake and located under the roof that evoke medieval castles as symbols of the feudal power of Ludovico II Gonzaga. Villa Ghirardina A similar distributive model characterizes the Villa Ghirardina at Motteggiana, the old villa of Saviola was built around the mid-15th century by Fancelli for Ludovico II (Palvarini Gobio Casali, 1986, pp. 5-34). In this case, the system of entrances becomes a symbolic route in which the main corridor leads directly to a staircase which leads to a hanging courtyard, the sinumor the heartof the house according to Albertis De Re Aedificatoria (1452). As at Revere, the faades are characterized by Tuscan windows and medieval battlements (see Figure 2).
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Figure 1. Revere (Mantua), the Palace of Ludovico 2nd Gonzaga.
Figure 2. Motteggiana (Mantua), the villa of Ludovico 2nd Gonzaga.
The Castle of San Giorgio and the Domus Nova As being already mentioned in early Renaissance, castles were still the most important symbols of the feudal power of a prince; therefore, the refurbishment of the medieval castle of San Giorgio by Marquis Ludovico II Gonzaga (already began perhaps in 1457) is very important (LOccaso, 2006b, pp. 20-35). The rooms of Ludovico II were subsequently lived in by his son Federico I, who began the construction of a large new residence, the Domus Nova, characterized by towers still inspired by medieval examples, and battlements (now lost, but still visible in a late 16th century drawing) (Togliani, 2003, pp. 95-98). After the death of Federico I (1484), the castle went back to being the ruling centre of power. It is there that Francesco II and his consort Isabella dEste settled (Togliani, 2003, pp. 98-99). At the beginning of his rule (1519), Federico II also lived in the castle of San Giorgio (LOccaso, 2011, p. 157).
GOTHIC HERITAGE IN RENAISSANCE MANTUA The City Palaces
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Before concluding, we should mention the already cited city palaces again. The restoration of the Palazzo della Ragione, with its new loggia, was concluded in 1462 (Ferlisi, 2005, p. 173). Between 1462 and 1564, Luca Fancelli and Giovanni Antonio dArezzo worked at the Palazzo del Podest (as already noted by the Mantuan art historian Ercolano Marani in 1961), we should consider that before the restorations (completed in 1941), the main faade was very similar to that of the palace of Ludovico II at Revere (Marani & Perina, 1961, pp. 81-82).
Gothic Heritage and Private Houses

Battlements and Towers in Early Renaissance Palace Faades During the second half of the 15th century, some features of the Gonzaga palaces also appeared in private houses built by Mantuan patricians involved in the already mentioned renovatio urbis patronized by Marquis Ludovico II. The Mantuan scholar Ercolano Marani (1961) noted that several houses presented battlementsderived from medieval tradition and used in courtly residencesbefore recent restorations, but important examples still survive1 (Marani, 1961, p. 83). First of all, we should consider the early Renaissance house of the merchant Giuliano Lanzini (Piazza Marconi 16, see Figure 3) (Marani & Perina, 1961, p. 82). Sometimes, these kinds of faades were decorated by frescoes: Human figures are painted between the battlements of the palace of Gian Maria Calvisano (Via Cavriani 4) built in circa 1494 (see Figure 4) (LOccaso, 2009b, p. 20). A similar decorationrecently attributed to Nicol da Veronais in the faade of Palazzo Boldrini (Via Chiassi 42, see Figure 5), probably built in 1470s or 1480s (LOccaso, 2009b, pp. 19-20; Vischi, 2009, pp. 58-59). Often, these faades combined both Gothic and Renaissance elements: In the courtyard of Palazzo Malatesta, we find Renaissance heraldic devices (see Figure 6) (LOccaso, 2009b, pp. 19); Between the battlements of the house in Via Massari 11, we find human figures depicted in still late-Gothic style and Renaissance fake-marbles (see Figure 7) directly derived from Mantegnas works, such as the Camera degli Sposi, completed in 14742 (Vischi, 2009, pp. 56-57). This fake-marble decoration also appears in a previously unpublished battlement in the courtyard of Palazzo Berla in Via Bertani 31, now incorporated in the top floor (see Figure 8). Angular towers are also medieval-inspired elements, directly derived from the Gonzagas residences. Nowadays, the most important example is the tower of Palazzo Arrivabene (Via Fratelli Bandiera 18, see Figure 9), began in 1481 and characterized by a Renaissance entablature (Carlini & Guidara, 2003; 2004). Moreover, we should mention the tower of the house of the Mantuan humanist Mario Equicola, built in 1522 and destroyed in 1718 (Marani & Perina, 1961, pp. 92-94).
Marani cited houses in Vicolo Poggio, Via Oberdan, Vicolo Santa Maria (No. 8), and Via (No. 5). Marani, E., and Amadei, G. (1977). Antiche dimore mantovane (p. 50). Marani cited a house in Via Chiassi 59. Recent restoration discovered battlements in the facade of the house in Via Cocastelli 10. 2 About wall decorations inspired by Mantegna, see Zuccoli (2006a), pp. 58-69; Zuccoli (2006b), pp. 68-87.
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Figure 3. Mantua, Piazza Marconi 16, the house of Giuliano Lanzini.
Figure 4. Mantua, Via Cavriani 4, the palace of Gian Maria Calvisano.
Figure 5. Mantua, Via Chiassi 42, Boldrini palace.
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Figure 6. Mantua, Via Mazzini 16, Malatesta palace. A detail of the courtyard.
Figure 7. Mantua, Via Massari 11, a detail of the faade.
The House of Giovanni Boniforte da Concorrezzo Nowadays, the house of the merchant Giovanni Boniforte da Concorrezzo (Piazza Erbe) is considered the most important example of a late-Gothic faade of a private Mantuan residence (see Figure 10). The archival research by Maria Rosa Palvarini has clarified the buildings history: Giovanni bought the house on December 24, 1454 and immediately began restoration; the new faade was already completed in 1455 and this date appeared in the inscription under the loggia (written both in Latin and volgate), in a lost epigraph removed in 1798, the Mantuan chronicler Andrea da Schivenoglia also mentioned the date 1455 (Palvarini Gobio Casali, 1964).
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Figure 8. Mantua, Via Bertani 31, Berla palace. A battlement of the courtyard now incorporated in the top floor.
Figure 9. Mantua, Via Fratelli Bandiera 18, Arrivabene Palace.
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Figure 10. Mantua, Piazza Erbe, the house of Giovanni Boniforte da Concorrezzo.
Now, we know that this faade was originally completely painted and gilded, but today only the terracotta decoration still survives (Vischi, 2009, pp. 38-39). Ercolano Marani identified four cultural areas as sources for this complex architecture: Lombardy for the hanging columns of the horizontal entablatures; Spain and/or southern Italy for the inner decorations of the windows frames; Venice for the loggia and the whole composition; and, last but not least, the early Mantuan Renaissance for the two Corinthian capitals, for the dentils of the architraves and for the flat frontons with dentils that characterize two windows (one on the main faade towards Piazza Erbe, and the other on the side towards Piazza Mantegna) (Marani & Perina, 1961, pp. 27-28). However, in the authors personal opinion, the mixture of Gothic and Renaissance elements is more complex: In fact, the ground floor portico is the only the 15th century architraved loggia now known in Mantua; indeed, surviving arcadesboth Gothic and early Renaissanceare always characterized by arches. Perhaps, in the loggia of Giovanni Bonifortes house, we can find an echo of the suggestions of Alberti, who theorized that squared pilasters must hold arches while columns must hold architraves (Wittkower, 1964, pp. 38-39). We have to consider that Alberti only arrived in Mantua in 1459, but he had previously been in close contact with the Gonzaga court: Indeed, Alberti dedicated the Latin edition of his De Pictura (1435) to Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, Ludovico IIs father3. Moreover, we have to consider that some of Albertis ideas about art and architecture probably arrived in Mantua thanks to the relationships between Ludovico II Gonzaga and Donatello, who had been greatly influenced by Alberti: In 1450, Ludovico II commissioned from Donatellowho had moved to
3
About Alberti and Mantua, see Calzona (2011), pp. 17-44.
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Padua in 1443/44the plastic decoration of a new altar in the Mantuan cathedral, dedicated to SantAnselmo (patron saint of Mantua); Donatello executed sketches and models of the statutes, but the altar was never completed (Braghirolli, 1873, pp. 4-10; Marani & Perina, 1961, pp. 509-510). Gothic Decoration in Private Renaissance Palaces Even though Renaissance painters were active in Mantua from the end of the first half of the 15th century, we also know that Lombard masters anchored to the Gothic heritage were still at work (LOccaso, 2006a, p. 47). The lost decoration of the palace of the prothonotary Guido Gonzagadecorated between 1456 and 1459seems to testify to this mixture of Gothic style and new Renaissance culture (LOccaso, 2006a, p. 51-52). This palace was characterized by a camera Socratis, almost certainly painted with Socrates and other Uomini dotti (famous people from the classical world); probably, this decoration was the onenow lostdiscovered in 1890 in the palace which now hosts the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana and the Conservatorio Lucio Campiani: Greeks philosophers (such as Democritus, Plato, Diogenes, Anaxagoras, and Aeschylus) protagonists of the Bible (Abraham, Joseph, Assuerus, Ester) figures from Greek mythology (Prometheus) or from the ancient Middle-East (as Zoroaster and Semiramis) were painted in three orders of Gothic arches. As noted by Stefano LOccaso (2006a), this decoration was probably under a loggiaaccording to the Renaissance treaty of Filarete (who was in Mantua in 1459and the paintings could have been inspired by the Speculum historiale by Vincenzo of Beauvais, quoted in 1407 in the inventory of the Gonzaga library, which also served for Masolinos Uomini illustri painted in 1432 in the Roman palace of Cardinal Giordano Orsini. Recently, the author has discovered an important wall decoration in a private house located in Piazza Stretta 2 (see Figure 11) (Girondi, 2012a, p. 14). The frieze shows vegetable ornaments on a white backgroundfollowing the Gothic Mantuan tradition (Suitner, 1989, pp. 15-16)which surround coats of arms depicted in fake-marbled Renaissance tondi and not in medieval poly-lobed frames; also the 2again fake-marbledentablatures (at the bottom and at the top of the freeze) are very important, because they show dentils inspired by the new allantica style. The frescoes were probably executed in the 1440s or 1450s, and certainly after 1433, when Gianfrancesco Gonzaga received the title of Marquis of Mantua and a new coat of arms with imperial eagles. Moreover, we should note the Mantuan journey of Filippo Brunelleschi in the 1430s and 1440s (LOccaso, 2005, pp. 23, 84-86).
Figure 11. Mantua, Piazza Stretta 2, A frieze.
Other frescoes which combine Renaissance and Gothic elements are in the Uberti Palace, located in Piazza Seminario 1 and perhaps executed in the 1460s or 1470s4. Here, we find a medieval white background again,
4
The author wants to thank Stefano LOccaso for the suggestion about the date of these frescoes.
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filled by Gothic dragons and early Lombard Renaissance putti that surround garlands allantica with coats of arms and busts of Roman emperors. In addition, the author wants to present wall decorations that he has recently found in two private houses (Via Conciliazione 90, see Figure 12, and Via XX Settembre 17, see figure 13) (Girondi, 2012a, pp. 14-15). Here we find puttiinspired by Lombard art againwho stand between coats of arms and still Gothic vegetable volutes. These frescoes are very important, because they were executed using the same preparatory cartoons, and this detail testifies the diffusion of this technique, also used in Mantua for the fresco depicting the Three Consuls of the University of the Merchants (LOccaso, 2006a, p. 48), and for the Pisanello Arthurian cycle (Castrichini, 1996, p. 76). Thanks to the 19th century Mantuan art scholar Carlo dArco, we know that in 1474 Bartolomeo Cavazzi was civis notarius Mantuae de c[ontrat]a equi (the ancient name of Via XX Settembre)5. Perhaps, Bartolomeo was the patron of these frescoes: The Cavazzi coat of arms is painted into a garland, and in another one, we can find a cross surrounded by the fragments of two letters, possibly the C and B from the name of the gentleman. These frescoes also feature a series of small archesthat characterized several 15th century late-gothic Mantuan faadeswhile the decoration in Via Conciliazione shows Renaissance entablatures with dentils, such as the one in the courtyard of the Valentini Palace in Corso Vittorio Emanele II 52 (see Figure 14) (Suitner & Nicolini, 1987, p. 71).
Figure 12. Mantua, Via Conciliazione 90, A frieze.
Figure 13. Mantua, Via XX Settembre 17, the house of Bartolomeo Cavazzi, A frieze.
5 Archivio di Stato di Mantova, Documenti Patrii DArco, Famiglie Mantovane, II (State Archive of Mantua, Documents of the homeland by Carlo dArco, Mantuan families, II), c. 190.
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Figure 14. Mantua, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 52, A detail of the courtyard.
During the second half of the 15th century, Gothic decorations often continued to characterize wooden ceilingsespecially on the tablets between the beamsalso when Renaissance frescoes were painted on the walls. The use of coats of arms surrounded by vegetable volutes comes from a medieval tradition: For example, we should consider the loggia of the Palazzo del Capitano, executed in the 14th century (Rodella, 2003, p. 28). Coats of arms characterize the wooden ceiling of several 15th century Mantuan palaces: We have to mention a large room in the palace of the Cavriani family, bought by Luigi, Giovanni e Benedetto Cavriani in 1446 (Tamalio, 2012, p. 34). This ceiling also shows other kinds of decorations, such as anthropomorphic and zoomorphic monsters, according to a specific typology which was quite common particularly in Viadana (near Mantua) (Bazzotti, 1993, pp. 279-280) and Cremona (Aglio, 2005, pp. 289-297). Monsters also characterize other wooden ceilings: We should mention a room in the previously mentioned house of Bartolomeo Cavazzi (see Figure 15), and others in the houses of Via Fratelli Bandiera 10 and Via Massari 11 (see Figure 16); these examples are very interesting, because some decorations were executed using the same preparatory cartoons (Girondi, 2012a, pp. 45-46).
Figure 15. Mantua, Via XX Settembre 17, the house of Bartolomeo Cavazzi, A detail of a wooden ceiling.
Figure 16. Mantua, Via Massari 11, A detail of a wooden ceiling.
Gothic Churches and Chapels in Renaissance Mantua

San Cristoforo In Renaissance Mantua, Gothic heritage also characterized religious architecture. First of all, we should consider the church of San Cristoforo: In 1613, the Mantuan chronicler Ippolito Donesmondi wrote that verso (about) 1479 the Celestine friars built the new church, thanks to the Andreasi and Monza families (Donesmondi, 1613, p. 386; 1616, p. 59). A manuscript written in 1675and recently discovered by Stefano LOccasoconfirms
GOTHIC HERITAGE IN RENAISSANCE MANTUA the date 1479 and quotes a now lost tombstone of the Monza family (LOccaso, 2009c, pp. 59-71).
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The churchrestored in the interior during the 18th centurystill shows the original exteriors (see Figure 17): An early Renaissance portal is the only element executed allantica; In fact, the salient faadewith traces of a large rose windowand the corbelled trefoil frieze in the eaves cornice were directly derived from late-Gothic Venetian architecture.
Figure 17. Mantua, San Cristoforo.
The Striggi Chapel in Santa Maria Della Carit The author has recently studied the history of the Striggi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria della Carit (Girondi, 2010; 2012b, pp. 71-99). The chapel was built thanks to the testament of Giovanni Striggi, written on February 11, 14866. The testament of Giovannis son, Giacomo, drawn up on August 27, 1500, testified that the chapel was already constracta, et fabricate7. Moreover, Giacomo wanted to found a beneficium, but this was created only on February 4, 15238. Perhaps the Renaissance frescoes were executed on this occasion; indeed, the paintings show the style of the late Mantuan classicism that characterized the last few years before the arrival of Giulio Romano (1524). The architecture of this chapel was very interesting, in particular because
Archivio di Stato di Mantova, Archivio Notarile (State Archive of Mantua, Notary Archive), Antonio Cornice, b. 22bis, Fubrurary 11, 1486. 7 Ibid, Francesco Pagani, b. 425, August 27, 1500. 8 Giovanni, Carminiati. (1523, February 4). Alberto e Giovanni Battista, Dotatio et errectio capelle et benefitis sanctis Ioannis Bapte, et Alberti (foundation of the chapel and benefice of Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Albert). Archivio Storico della Diocesi di Mantova, Benefici (Historical Archivo of the Diocese of Mantua, benefice), b. 31/2, fasc..
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of its cross vault still characterized by Gothic ogival arches (see Figure 18). On the other hand, the Renaissance genesis of the chapel is testified by the Man of sorrow attributed to Elia della Marra (documented between 1464 and 1495) and probably executed in 1486 or later (LOccaso, 2009a). This terracotta is located over the main entrance of the chapel and an inventory drawn up in 1737 testifies that the faade was also characterized by an oculus, recently, rediscovered during the restorations9.
Figure 18. Mantua, Santa Maria della Carit, the Striggi Chapel.
The Church of Madonna Della Vittoria The building history of the church of Madonna della Vittoria (see Figure 19) has been clarified by Ugo Bazzotti (Bazzotti, 2006, pp. 200-219). On July 6, 1496, the votive churchwished by marquis Francesco II Gonzaga, victorious at Fornovo, in the place of the demolished house of the persecuted Jew, Daniele Norsawas officially inaugurated with a large procession that accompanied the altarpiece executed by Andrea Mantegna. Giorgio Vasari wrote that the church was also executed con ordine e disegno di Andrea(following a design by Mantegna), but almost certainly Vasari referred to the interior architectural ornaments only, recently rediscovered and painted in the style of Mantegna. Indeed, the exterior faades still show late-Gothic elements, probably designedas suggested by Bazzottiby Bernardino Ghisolfo, who was the Gonzaga court architect between 1490 and 1517. Originally, the church did not present the portal on Via Fernelli (executed at the end of the 19th century), while the main portal on the main faade was larger and characterized by an ogival
9 Archivio Storico della Diocesi di Mantova, Benefici, fasc. Inventari, (Historical Archivo of the Diocese of Mantua, benefice, fascicle Inventories), b. 31/1, inventory written in 1738 by don Francesco Solferini.
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arch, destroyed after the transformation of the church into a military storehouse in 1877, when the interior space was divided into two floors. However, some ancient details still survive: In particular, we should mention the general layout, derived from several Mantuan Gothic churches built at the end of the 14th or at the beginning of the 15th century, such as the sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie at Curtatone, the church in the village of Angeli, and the urban church of Santa Paola; Moreover, we must look at the original circular window and, last but not least, at the trefoil small arches that characterize the eaves cornice and which is completely identical to the one on the late-Gothic bell tower in the church of Ognissanti (Bertelli, 2011, p. 56).
Figure 19. Mantua, Madonna della Vittoria.
Conclusions
Now we can try to make some conclusions. First of all, the list of quoted buildings, both religious and profane, seems demonstrate that during the late 15th century, the Gothic heritage maintained a key-role in the artistic life in Mantua, even if the medieval tradition was often mixed with the new allantica style. For example, we can find late-Gothic architectures, characterized by some Renaissance details, such as the church of San Cristoforo (with a Renaissance main door), the house of Giovanni Boniforte da Concorrezzo (with Renaissance capitals), and the Striggi Chapel (decorated by the sculptures by Elia della Marra). On the other hand, we have Renaissance buildings with still Gothic details: For example, we should consider the palaces by (or inspired by) Luca Fancelli, characterized by battlements and towers derived from medieval castles.
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D
Rita Spalva
DA VID
PUBLISHING
Innovation in Choreography of Leonid Yakobson
Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy, Riga, Latvia
To this day, the name of choreographer Leonid Yakobson is known only among the dance professionals. However, his ballets and dance miniatures, along with the surprising choice of imagery and ballet language, testify that Yakobson has been one of the most outstanding choreographers of the 20th century. The aim of the article is to analyse Leonid Yakobsons most distinguished choreographic works. The chosen theme emphasises inovation in the choreographers creative work. The chosen research method is analysis of the choreographed works of Leonid Yakobson.The article results show that his art, based on the experience of the Russian classical school of ballet, combines the early 20th century avant-garde principles with influences from the greatest choreographers of the Russian ballet. Keywords: choreographer, Leonid Yakobson, Russian ballet, innovation
Introduction
The heritage of the choreographer Leonid Yakobson (1904-1975) has a special place in the world of culture. He has composed 30 ballets and nearly two hundred ballet miniatures. He has staged unusual and imaginative characters and was the first choreographer for such unnoticed talent as Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Alla Osipenko, and Mikhail Baryshnikov among others. His numerous publications and the outstanding monograph Letters to Noverre. Memories and Essays was written in 1968, and finally published in New York in 2001, all testify that Leonid Yakobson was also a great theoretician. The main feature ringing true to this day is, however, the world of dance, which Jacobson has created, filled with imagination, paradoxes, and challenges.
Innovation in Choreography of Leonid Yakobson

His choice and interpretation of plot in ballet was always unexpected, surprising with bold solutions that overcame prejudices concerning what constitutes a non danceable plot. Despite the very difficult life conditions in which Communist party functionaries tried to hinder his creative work, the master never stopped creating and always hoped that some day his work would reach wider audiences. Yakobsons most fruitful years coincide with the most totalitarian time in the history of the Soviet Union, where socialist realism was recognized as the only acceptable approach for artistic endeavour. By means of various bans, new ideas in ballet were eliminated and the professional stage allowed only the classical and folk dance performances. Other dance genres (such as modern dance or jazz dance) were not recognized. By doing this, various obstacles were put in the way to such ballet masters as Leonid Yakobson. He was an entirely peculiar
Rita Spalva, Ph.D. in Dance Education, professor at Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy.
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INNOVATION IN CHOREOGRAPHY OF LEONID YAKOBSON
artist with unquenchable imagination and fantasy in both the realms of dance technique and the plot. Only in 1971, shortly before his death, while being very ill, Leonid Yakobson was finally allowed by the government to stage his troupe Choreographic Miniatures ( ) in St Petersburg (Leningrad at the time). His fantasy was unstoppablein a span of several years, he created dozens of programmes and hundreds of dances. It is a big loss that his work has only partially survived to this day. Many works of his youth have not been filmed. The troupe of his creation Choreographic Miniatures, existing to this very day, has only partially recovered his work. One reason for this loss is the unique character of his work, which does not lend itself for restoration at all. There are other factors that have hindered the exploration of Yakobsons work. Irina, his widow and partner in artistic endeavour, who had been his assistant and the director of the said troupe for many years, was fired after his death and now resides in the US. It is likely that her interest in having full control of Yakobsons plays and the anticipation to receive royalties from his work had created the situation that neither theatres of St Petersburg nor Moscow celebrated his hundredth anniversary in an appropriate manner (, 2003). To this day, many ballet professionals and experts are not well versed in the works of the genius master, as they are available only to a limited extent and in a bad quality. It is very important to use the momentum while Yakobsons heritage is still alive in peoples memories in order to restore the lost masterpieces and register the knowledge of people who have experienced his work in person. Leonid Yakobson became interested in dance at 16, a fairly late stage of his life. He was lucky that at the time, Leningrads ballet school was looking for older boys in order to increase the replenished mens troupe of the Kirov Opera and ballet. Victor Semenov () and Vladimir Ponomaryov () became his teachers.
Creative Work of Leonid Jacobson

During his early years of school, he made his first choreographies with Chopin and Griegs music (, 2010, . 313). Their peculiar musicality, powerful fantasy, and original language of dance attracted attention (, 2007, . 24). After graduation, he continued to produce choreographic miniatures in his native ballet school, however, encountered fierce resistance from Agrypina Vaganova (), the director of the school and the main ballet authority at the time. She refused to accept Jacobsons novel compositions. Later in his life, Yakobson continued to emphasize that from early onwards, he had been influenced by famous Mikhail Fokins () plays and his declared position to go Against the flow (the title of Fokins autobiography was Against the Flow). He was also influenced by the search of new forms in dance by such forward-looking choreographers from 1920s as Fedor Lopukhov (), Kasyan Goleyzovsky (), and Georgre Balanchin (; also known in Russia as Balanchivadze). After conflicts with Vaganova, he set out to look for work in Moscow, Sverdlovsk (now Yakaterinburgh), Moldova, etc.. During this time, he created quite a few small pieces and concert programms. In 1940, he managed to secure the position of a ballet master at the Kazan Opera and Ballet. There, Yakobson created his first large play Shurale () using Farid Yarullins () music (in ballet encyclopaedias the ballet is also known as Ali-Batir (-). The plot is based on a Tatar fairy tale).
The girl-like bird Suymbike falls in love with a young hunter by name of Ali Batir. The wood spirit Shurale,
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however, rids the girl of her wings and hides her in the deep of the wood. The brave Ali Batir finds and rescues the girl. Shurale and his kingdom are destroyed in a fire. (. , 1981, p. 596)
Everything was different with this ballet. The many wooden characters each had its own image, not to mention Shurales own plastics, which displayed a tree branch, a dangerous animal, and a cunning wizard. Spectators were especially impressed by the scenes of flying birds, which sharply contrasted. With the other wooden characters, Yakobson composed a separate theme for each group of birds, which was successfully merged into an emotional contra point. The common drawing of the dance was composed by numerous details. Overlapping movements formed a plastic theme with necessary content and brightness (, 2001, pp. 82-83). In 1950, the ballet Shurale was staged once again at the Leningrads Kirov theatre and, subsequently, at Moscows Bolshoi. The ballet was a great success and Leonid Yakobson was awarded Stalins stipend, the highest recognition in the arts at the time. Later in 1959, his reflections about the creation of the play and the ballet Shurale were summarized under the heading My Work on the Ballet Shurale ( ), which was only published in the 2001 volume Letters to Noverre. Memories and Essays ( p. a ). The next large format play was created in 1952 at the Maly Opera and Ballet. This was the ballet Solveig (with Edvard Griegs music) about the love of Solveig and Olaph, which is overshadowed by the evil and powerful Ice Maiden. In this ballet, Yakobson consciously rejected new experiments in motion, abiding by traditions of the classical ballet. Art historian Galyna Dobrovolskaya () analyzed the use of the traditional principles of symphonism in this ballet by saying: these are nearly canonical: The main means of expression is a classical dance. Furthermore, it can be said that in this ballet Jacobsons reconciliation with classical tradition becomes a union of a kind (, 1968, p. 60). Critics praised Yakobson for engaging the classical dance as well as the creation of new poetic characters (Solveig, Ice Maiden), which are so characteristic to the traditional Russian ballet theatre (Gissele, Odetta). For several years onwards, Jacobson did not receive any commissions from Kirovs theatre. In 1956, the main ballet master Fedor Lopukhov invited Yakobson to stage the ballet Spartacus (set to Aram Khachaturians music). This became a major turn for both the author and the spectators. The play used unexpected forms of expression, which underlined its theatrecallity and monumentalism. There were static poses, the bodies of dancers formed expressed a bas-relief altogether emphasizing a peculiarly grand style of dance. The innnovation of the play was expressed in its every partchoreography, production, and scenography as well as music. The play turned out to have a happy stage life and continued for nearly 30 years. But as Yakobsons critic Zvezdochkin () notes, many stagings of the ballet resulted in the loss of several parts and many expressive details and only few fragments remain to convey the genius of the author (such as Friggys and Spartacus adagion in the last act) (, 2007, p. 88). Yakobson wrote: I wrote this play with a style, determined by the antique murals in Louvre, vase paintings in Hermitage and the plastics of the antique greco-roman sculptures (, 2007, p. 134). Yakobson always considered himself to be a balletmaster of Kirovs theatre. Notwithstanding, he was fired from this job several times (for artistic reasons). Between years 1925-1975 he staged eight ballets in the theatre
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(see Table 1). Table 1 The List of Yakobsons Plays Staged at the Kirovs Opera and Ballet Theatre No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Year 1930 1950 1956 1959 1962 1964 1965 1967 Title The Golden Age Shurale Spartacus Choreographic Miniatures The Bedbug The Twelve Waltzes Land of Miracles Composer Dmitri Shostakovich Farid Yarullin Aram Khachaturian Different Dmitri Shostakovich Boris Tishchenko Different Isaac Shvarts
The names of ballets testify of the authors wide erudition in choosing a plot. Many of his colleagues and dancers admitted that he had encyclopaedic knowledge in arts, yet his main inspiration came from fine arts. He was also admired for his professional skills. Not only was he fanatical about his work, being able to work on a certain idea for years onwards, but also he was able to detect an unprecedented talent among the amateur dancers. In 1969, Yakobson staged a miniature Vestris for Michael Barishnikov who had just arrived at Kirovs theatre. He foresaw his grand artistic talent and intuitively predicted his spectacular career in the future (a comparison with Vestris). Unexpectedly, he gave the main cast of Zoya Berezkina in the ballet The Bedbug to otherwise unknown ballerina Natalya Makarova who, this far, had played character roles. As Zvezdochkin put it: Jacobson not only showed the tragic fate of the betrayed Zoya, but seemingly projected Makarovas fate in the future, whose life in the ballet was broken by love and emigration. Thankfully, her artistic career was triumphant (, 2007, p. 128). The choreographic miniature was Jacobsons favourite genre, because he was more than a choreographer, he also had a directors talent,
A miniature is a very demanding, mobile, eloquent, dramaturgically complete form with a character whose plastics are clear. []. In a very short time span, it allows to narrate more than full scale ballet plays, as it concentrates and captures spectators attention. (, 2007, p. 157)
Starting with 1971 when the ballet master was able to form his own troupe, he finally had a chance to create new plays as well as to make a retrospection of his work and to showcase its best parts. The premiere featured a wide programme consisting of four parts: Classicism. Romanticism, Rodin, Russian Miniatures, and Triptych of Genres. Every part consisted of separate, seemingly unrelated parts, which had a common theme or style of dance. For instance, the first part Classicism. Romanticism consisted of seven concerts: Pas de Trois (to Rossini); Pas de Quatre (to Bellini); Flight of Tagloni; Pas de Deux (to Mozart); Medieval Dance with Kisses (to Prokofiev); Cachucha (to Sarasate); and Dying Swan (to Saint-Sans). Each of these miniatures had its own meaning. Hereby, Jacobson showed his respect to history of ballet and
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its geniuses. By stylistically interpreting the forms of classical dance, he filled them with a new meaning. While Flight of Tagloni brings an association of airy romantic ballet, Cachucha presents the famous character dances of the 19th century, Pas de Quatre is a dedication to Jules Perro, but The Dying Swan debates Mikhail Fokin by presenting a swan that has a robust dramatic and a desire to life. One article is not sufficient to widely engage with Jacobsons heritage. His later years saw even more one act plays and divertissements: Exercise XX (to Bach); Contrasts; Travelling Circus; Ebony Concerto (to Stravinsky); Jewish Wedding (to Shostakovich); Symphony of Eternity (to Tishchenko); The City (to Webern); A Brilliant Divertissement (to Glinka); Surprise (to Haydn); and Six Pas de Deux (to Rossini, Chopin, Britten, Honegger, Lehar, and Donizetti) (International Encyclopedia of Dance, 2004, p. 412). Each spectator who saw these plays could find there a topic that would be dear to him. The author, having lived in St Petersburg in the early 1970s, experienced an unforgettable culture shock already on the first evening of Choreographic miniatures. Now, once years have gone by and the author has had a chance to evaluate work in the context of other great 20th century ballet masters, he concludes that the emotional effect of Yakobsons ballets and miniatures have not been surpassed to this day. One of the fundamental questions that Jacobson tried to answer in his plays and publications wascan contemporary themes be engaged only by using techniques of classical dance. To answer this he created a new choreography, which has not been matched. It seems that Jacobsons 1971 play Exercise XX (to Bach, Swingle Singer), becomes a hymn to dance, where he showed in a poetic fashion how classical dance exercise, known to any dance professional, turns into a whole new choreography. He aptly demonstrated that every canon can be set against an anti-canon. Their synthesis, more importantly, leads to a creation of a new work of art.
Conclusions
Leonid Jacobson, as an artist with an unsurpassed fantasy, has created his own world of dance. It seems that Jacobson had a capacity to express everything in the language of dance. His ballets and miniatures enlivened murals of the ancient Greece and Rome (ballet Spartacus), Mayakovsky set the stage for the satiric poetry (ballet The Bedbug), the duets of love were created in the fashion of Rodins sculptures (Rodin Triptych), a wedding ceremony departed for a long journey from a painting of Marc Schagal (Jewish Wedding), Mazarels graphics and characters from Russian folklore all came to life. Jacobson considered and proved in practice that any theme could be turned into a dance. Today, we can only ponder if Jacobson has become a ballet reformer along Fokin or Bejart. The author would like to argue that Yakobsons influence upon the development of choreographic thought would have been very great had his work come to attention of the world at the time when they were stagedin the middle of the 20th century. However, those ballet masters who had a chance to get to know Jacobsons work learned the most important thingthe freedom of a creative spirit, artistic courage, letting go of clichs and prejudices. It is for this reason that Boris Eifman, whose discipleship is set around the early 1970s, called Leonid Jacobson his Great Teacher.
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Cohen, S. J. (Ed.). (2004). International encyclopedia of dance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. , . (2003). : . (Variations on a Theme). Retrieved from N3 www.russiban-bazaar.com/ru/content/4473.htm . (The Ballet Encyclopedia) (1981). : . , . (1968). (The Ballet Master Leonid Yakobson). Leningrad: . , ., & , . . (1993). , , , (Talks about Leonid Yakobson or the necessary conversation and the letter that followed). Saint Petersburg: . , . . (2011). 1960- (Innovative principles of choreographic interpretations by Leonid Yakobson in 1960s). .., 3. , . . (2007). (Creative work of Leonid Yakobson). Saint Petersburg: Saint Petersburg State University for the Humanities. , . . (2010). , (1950) (1953) (The dispute about the truth, or the paradoxes of dance in choreographic masterpieces Shurale (1950) and Spartacus by Leonid Yakobson). , 120. , . (2004). (Dedicated to Leonid Yakobson). , 6(35). , . (2010). (100 great ballet masterpieces). : . , . (2001). . (Letters to Noverre. memories and essays). New York: Hermitage Publishers.
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The Politicisation of Arab Theatre: Sad Allah Wannus

Abdulaziz H. Al-Abdullah
University of Kuwait, Keifan, Kuwait
The political theatre in the Arab world emerged from rough seas of opposition and state monitoring schemes. Some critics may claim that political tendencies in Arab theatre can be traced to the early contributors to Arab theatre. Others attribute the emergence of this theatre to the revolution of Egypts Nasir. However, the Syrian playwright Sad Allah Wannus may be viewed as the true representative of this kind of theatre in the Arab world. Shocked by the defeat of the Arabs by Israel in 1967, he began what he coined theatre of politicization, aiming to attack Arab governments and blaming them for the defeat, and at the same time, insighting his audience to revolt against existing political ideas. In this kind of theatre, the audience assumed ever-increasing importance. Wannus wrote several plays, the aim of which was to develop a mentality and strengthen a collective consciousness in an Arab historical context. This article aims to exploring the concept of theatre of politicization and the impact of that on Arab political theatre. Keywords: politics, theatre, insighting, frustration and dissappointment
Introduction
The 19th century marked the birth of modern Arab theatre and the beginning of a period of interplay between Arab drama and Western drama. Many studies recognize the Bilad al-Sham (Greater Syria) as where the modern Arab theatre began its life in the mid-19th century. Many great writers in all the major genres of Arabic literature have emerged from that part of the Arab world, including such figures as Marun al-Naqqash, Ahmed Aby Khalil al-Qabbani, Mikhail Nuayma, Khlil Mutran, Jibran Khalil Jibran, and many others. Each one has left his own distinctive mark on his field of literature. Such theatre was mainly an imitation of the Western form and works. Politics were not part of any play, as it is hazardous to involve everyday politics on stage, except in the form of allegory.
Wannus and Political Theatre

Political theatre arrived late in the Arab world, because personal freedom and the attainment of political maturity had been for a long time inhibited. Such a theatre is closely linked with historical events: the domination of colonisation by Western nations, especially England and France; the emergence of Israel as an independent state in 1948, with the resulting series of wars and internal protests against corruption and oppression. The last movement led naturally towards the spread of socialist or Marxist ideas and the concept of the universality of revolution.
Abdulaziz H. Al-Abdullah, Ph.D., Department of English, University of Kuwait.
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THE POLITICISATION OF ARAB THEATRE: SAD ALLAH WANNUS When the Free Officers, including Jamal Abd al-Nasir, assumed power in Egypt in 1952, the theatre in that
country became much more lively and even subversive in response to the new political climate. The Syrian playwright Sad Allah Wannus, like most Arab people, was deeply influenced by Abd al-Nasir and his ideas on Arab unity and Pan-Arabism. However, the real emergence of the political theatre in the Arab world was to come after the humiliating defeat of June 1967, as Arab intellectuals vied with each other to find an explanation or reason for the disaster. Three trends can be detected amongst these intellectuals: (1) the liberal secular trend which attributed the defeat to the connection between religion and politics, and saw the total separation of these two elements as the right response to it; (2) the Islamic religious trend which found the cause in the abandonment by the Arabs of their religion and called for a return to religion and the enactment of Islamic legislation; and (3) the revolutionary trend which blamed corrupt governmental changes in the Arab world. Thess trends consisted mainly of Marxist and Socialist thinkers.
Social Background and Early Works

Such demands are understandable for, undoubtedly, the gap between rulers and the ruled in the Arab world had been getting wider. People had been denied the right of participation in political decision-making: They were restrained both by the actions of the opportunistic bureaucracy and by the ignorance in which they were deliberately kept by their governments. In this atmosphere, if the theatre could find a voice it needed, in the words of Mustafa al Hallaj, a Syrian playwright, quoted by A. Al-Shari: to move with the cycle of life and the battle of history, to become a platform for making demands and a starting point for revolutionary work (Al-Ishari, 1985, p. 106). A new phase began in Arab theatre as it tried to break down artificial barriers and openly examine political questions. To avoid the threat of bans or prosecution, it was often necessary for writers to use allegory: legends, symbolism, Arab history, and literary heritage. This was done by Sad Allah Wannus in his controversial play Haflat Samar min Ajl Khamsa Huzayran (An Evening Entertainment for the 5th of June, 1968). In this and similar plays, a dialogue was established between the audience and the playwright, actors, and directors. The theatre sought to put on trial the regimes and leaders who were seen as the reason for the catastrophic defeat. Many playwrights in different Arab countries played a part in this movement for revival of the theatre, but Wannus has claimed to be considered the leader. After the war of 1967 and the turbulent events he had personally witnessed in 1968 in Paris, politics became the dominant factor of his life. He wrote: I realise that the fundamental aim of the human being is to be a politician (Wannus, 1977, p. 193). He argued that the traditional theatre, even when it avoided specifically political issues still served a political objective, that is to prevent the masses from improving or changing their conditions (Wannus, 1970, pp. 17-23). This reflected the ideas of the American theatre director Peter Schumann, and of Erwin Piscator. Wannus sought to make the theatre a didactic and stimulating experience for the masses: It should present their problems, analyze the issues affecting them, enlighten people about matters the ruling elite kept hidden factors, and encourage them to strive for change (Ramadn, 1984, p. 28). This so-called theatre of politicisation had to be relevant to the contemporary political situation and accessible to the masses whose cause it would champion.
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The Concept of Wannus Theatre

In Wannuss concept of this theatre, the audience assumed ever increasing importance. He described the theatre of politicisation as a dialogue between two spacesthe theatrical performance, which is presented by a group aiming to establish a better form of communication with the audience, and the audience itself, in whose lives all the manifestations and problems of reality appear (Wannus, 1987, p. 426). In the introduction to his play Haflat Samar (1977), he wrote:
In a period of set-back, when the people have only two choicesarmed resistance or surrenderthe task of the theatre is difficult but clear. It must break with its roots and transform the stage and the auditorium into a conscious awakening process, that must penetrate into the most distant halls of the theatre, into the streets and houses, into the front line, evolving as it spreads into protest, resistance and a clear vision of the future. The theatre betrays the people if it hides the truth. (Wannus, 1977, p. 2)
Wannus (1970) explained how he came to develop the concept of theatre of politicisation by saying that the 1967 war was very important for the theatre and for its relation to politics, because the theatre, like the Arab masses, had been shocked by the defeat (p. 106). Before the defeat, it was felt that theatrical experiments had been inhibited by the ethos of art for arts sake. Traditional critics saw the theatre as a pure form of art which should not meddle in politics, for that could only weaken its artistic nature. But the shock of defeat created an intellectual awakening within the educated classes and led to universal agreement that the theatre could not turn its back on politics.
Wannus and the Function of Theatre

In Wannus eyes, the theatre should carry progressive political content. This view is shared by the Western critic Samuel who described what he saw as the relationship between the theatre and politics in these words: theatre, as the most public of arts, is second cousin to politics, and even when the relationship is a forbidden one, there is a two-way traffic between them (Samuel, MacColl, & Cosgrove, 1958, p. xiii). This idea of politicisation is described by Wannus as intellectual, but also sees it as having a second angle, the artistic. He wanted his theatre to be avant-garde in its attempt to address a certain stratum in society. Theses are the populace or working class, whose political awareness had been stunted, whose artistic taste had been corrupted, and whose popular culture had been distorted in authoritarian works, which ruined and stifled the development of their literary appreciation (Wannus, 1970, p. 109). These classes were the victims of constant pressure from the authorities in order to keep them ignorant and un-politicized, because it was they who might turn one day bring about revolution and change. Therefore, the theatre had to seek new and innovative means of communicating with them. Like the innovative German playwright Bertold Brecht, Wannus regarded his plays as social experiments, requiring detachment, not passion from the audience. He rejected the traditional make-believe of the theatre in favour of seeing the stage as a stage, the actors as real people and the audience as an integral and very important part of the performance. He had turned his back on the old Western theatre, as described in the words of Piscator (1963): the plain man saw the theatre as a temple of the muses, to be entered in white tie and tails and in a mood of appropriate elation (p. 30). Fortunately, that perception had never been current in the Arab world.
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Purpose of This Theatre

The main aim of the theatre of politicisation was to change and develop a mentality and strengthen a collective consciousness in an Arab historical context (Wannus, 1988, p. 26). To achieve this aim, or the right form for the theatre, Wannus relied on experimenting until the right form was found, that would lead to a dialogue, through which an effective popular theatre linked to the people would emerge. The theatre has no ready-made form, but was a continuous process of work and experiment (Wannus, 1988, p. 113). The theatre of politicisation required the actors to be aware of the theatres political role, to know that the conflict in drama is a social one, and to realise that they all had a share in their commitment to a political and historical cause. As for the audience, the theatre of politicisation required them, firstly, to realize their own importance, because everything on stage is targeted and addressed to them. Secondly, they had to abandon their passivity and try to take a stand on what they saw and head on stage. Thirdly, they had to take responsibility, because their stand would have important and dangerous consequences for the country as well as themselves. The audience, therefore, had to change its attitude towards the theatre, reject being used or deceived, and be ready to intervene in the dialogue. They had to stop an action that was designed to anaesthetise them, they had to scream, and even stop the performance if they found truth being distorted (Wannus, 1988, p. 43). The audiences response to theatre of politicization was to be related to the issues presented to them on stage and not to particular characters. Wannus (1977) analysed this view by saying: in this play, Haflat Samar, there are no characters in the traditional meaning of the word. They are voices and features of a certain composition and do not possess any particular dimensions. Their characteristics are conceived according to what they add in lines or details to the image of the general historical composition (pp. 3-41). There was neither individual hero nor a protagonist in the plays of Wannus but collective heroism, exactly like the characters in the epic theatre of Brecht, in Piscators political theatre, and in Peter Weisss documentary theatre, where the characters are symbols of class and intellectual positions and commitments rather than individuals (Ismail, 1981, p. 115). Like the political theatre of Piscator, Wannus theatre of politicisation does not depend on dramatic progress, but rather on an accumulation of episodes. This has led Piscator to break the absoluteness of the dramatic form and establish a narrative theatre (Zondi, 1977, p. 126). Wannus adopted this method in his theatre of politicisation by employing the narrative form of the Hakawati (story teller) of the Arabian Nights (1706) or the traditional Arab caf in order to break the dramatic illusion and use that character as a medium between the stage and the audience. Wannus was influenced by Brechts epic theatre and Weisss documentary theatre when he dealt with political issues that carry a universal human theme not connected to a specific place or time, such as issues of freedom, authoritarian regimes, and the relationship between the ruler and the ruled (Ismali, 1981, p. 125). Like Brecht, Weiss, and Piscator, Wannus believed that the theatre can effect change in society, by influencing the lives of many people, as the Greek theatre did, through the truthful imitation of reality (Bentley, 1975, p. 462).
Wannus and Later Works

In the Arab world, where authoritarian regimes have long flourished, rulers have demanded that art remains neutral towards public affairs. Wannus (1992) commented: Every political system tries to select the culture that supports it and to discharge art from any role in change (pp. 54-55). He believed that artistic, social economic,
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and political concepts were shaped by history. In Arab countries they had evolved under the hegemony of a bourgeois culture which had dominated the region from the late 19th century. Later technological progress had made the bourgeoisie still more powerful, especially in the countries under Western colonization or power. Wannus saw his goal to break this mould and build a reconstructed theatre. His play Haflat Samar (1977), written in Paris in 1968, has been seen as the most important dramatical work dealing with the 1967 defeat. The play is in effect a trial of regimes, ideas, and leaders. Wannus is the public prosecutor and the audience are both judge and jury. This is a play, like those of Peter Weiss, which is a documentary, addressing the issue of defeat and inviting the audience to an instant exchange of opinions. In his later works, al-Fil Ya Malik al-Zaman (The Elephant O, King of All Ages, 1969), Mughamarat Ras al-Mamluk Jabir (The Adventure of the Slave Jabirs Head, 1970), Sahra Maa Abu Khalil al-Qabbani (An Evening With Abu Khalil al-Qabbani, 1972), and al-Malik Huwa al-Malik (The King Is the King, 1997), Wannus adopted from Brecht the technique of the parable. Through stories taken from the Arab cultural heritage, the audience contemplate a parable they know. They are not surprised by its events, which are already familiar, but are invited to look at its meaning in depth. In such plays, Wannus examined from a Marxist and socialist perspective the relationship between authority, embodied in a king, Caliph, Vizier or president, and the people. The theatre was to become a way to knowledge, awakening the taste of the audience and criticizing the aesthetic values of current art and the media (Wannus, 1988, p. 136). The theatre of politicisation was to be a gradual process aiming at stimulating the intellect of the audience. It focuses on the issue of hukm (government) and presents for the audiences consideration people who are directly subject to it.
Conclusions
It is true that some political elements appeared before 1967 in Arab drama in the plays of Yaqub Sanu, Ahmad Khalil al-Qabbani, Mahmoud Taimur, Numan Ashur, and others. But the real emergence of political theatre in the Arab world came after the 1967 defeat, in the work of Sad Allah Wannus. Deeply being affected by the defeat, and influenced by the 1968 upheavals in the streets of Europe, especially Paris, Wannus committed himself to starting and continuing a process of politicizing the people through experimentation in a new theatre, seeking to insight and bring about ideological and social change in the Arab world. This process of insighting the audience into action against the regimes and expanding the theatre to become a tool for revolution and change, is the essence of the theatre of politicisation.
References
Al-Ishari, A. (1985). al-Masrahiyya al-Siyasiyya fi al Watan al-Arabi (The political play in the Arab world). Cairo: Dar al-Maarif. Bentley, E. (1975). Theory of modern theatre (Y. Abd al-Masih, Trans.). Baghdad: Ministry of Culture. Ismail, F. (1981). al-Kalima. Al Fil fi Masrah Sad Allah Wannus (The word, the deed in the theatre of Sa'd Allah Wannus). Beirut: Dar al-Adab. Piscator, E. (1963). The political theatre (H. Rorrison, Trans.). London: Eyre Methuin. Ramadn, K. (1984). Masrah Sad Allah Wannus (The theatre of Sa'ad Allah Wannus). Kuwait: Al-Manaber Publishing. Samuel, R., MacColl, E., & Cosgrove, S. (1958). Theatres of the left 1880-1935 (p.xiii). Routledge: Kegan Paul, London. Wannus, S. (1970). Bayanat Li-Masrah Arabi Jadid (Statements for a new Arab theatre). al Marifa (The knowledge) (pp. 17-23). Damascus: Ministry of Culture. Wannus, S. (1977). Haflat samar. Beirut: Dar Al-Adab.
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Wannus, S. (1987). Mughamarat Ras al-Mamluk Jabir (The adventure of the head of the slave Jaber). Beirut: Dar Al-Adab. Wannus, S. (1992). Hawamish Thaqafiyya (Statements for a new Arab theatre). Beirut: Dar al-Adab. Wannus, S. (1988). Bayanat li-Masrah Arabi Jadid (Statements for a new Arab theatre). Beirut: Dar al-Fikr al-Jadid. Zondi, P. (1977). Theory of modern drama (A. Haydar, Trans.). Damascus: Ministry of Culture.
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Virtual Classroom in the CloudTransnational Scandinavian Teaching With Digital Technology

Ove Christensen
University College Zealand, Roskilde, Denmark
In the Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the project GNU (Grnseoverskridende Nordisk Undervisning, i.e. Transnational Nordic Teaching) is experimenting with ways of conducting teaching across the borders in the elementary schools. The cloud classes are organised with one class from each country in the subjects: language, science, math, social science/history. The teachers from the three classes work together to design teaching they conduct together with assignments the students will be able to solve only in collaboration with their fellow students in the three classes. The three year project ends in 2014 but already now there are some interesting findings on how transnational teaching collaboration works for teachers and students. This paper will focus on the different uses of web based tools of synchronous and asynchronous communication and discuss challenges and benefits in regard to learning and pedagogy with virtual classroom. Keywords: online learning, cloud teaching, pedagogy, digital literacy, digital didactics
Introduction
How is it possible to develop teaching programs across borders and facilitate collaborative learning for the students? The answer seems to be new digital technologiesInformation and Communication Technologythat makes synchronous communication with more participants feasible. Synchronous cross border teaching is a way of improving students understanding of others and a way of breaking down the classroom walls to the outside world. In that way, cross border teaching prevents teaching and learning from be too narrow in its isolated own schoollogic; its own discourse. This paper relates the first findings of a development program for cross border teaching. The Transnational Nordic Teaching Program is a three year research and development program funded by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), through Interreg for the KS-region (see Figure 1). The aim of the project is to innovate concepts for cross-border teaching models through practice-based co-design processes between teachers and educational researchers (Interreg IVA, n.d.; Spante et al., 2012). Basically, the project will gain knowledge from observing what is going on in cloud based classrooms. The cloud based classrooms or virtual classrooms are the specific laboratory for the study: Specifically, a series of virtual Nordic classes, will be established, where Swedish, Norwegian and Danish students are taught simultaneously by a common group of Nordic teachers. The project establishes a cooperation between educational institutions and students from the KS-region and develops exemplary models for a practical
Ove Christensen, master (History of Ideas), associate professor, Department for Research and Innovation, University College Zealand.
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V VIRTUAL C CLASSROOM M IN THE CL LOUD
cross-borde er study com mmunity that will w support integration between b the Nordic N countr ries school systems s and inspire oth her education nal institution ns and levels to develop cross-border c education, w which may co ontribute to Nordic you ung people fe eeling that it is natural to st tudy and wor rk in other No ordic countrie es (Interreg, IVA).
Figur re 1. The KS-r region.
The project p develo ops through it terations of th he virtual cl lassrooms. The T one iterat tion lasts for a couple of months and d after a thor rough evalua ation, a new iteration i is ex xecuted. The e number of p participating classes and teachers is expanded du uring the project period as more experiences with th he practice of f classrooms in i the cloud ted and the co oncepts are co onsidered rob bust enough for f other teach hers to take o over. are generat The rationale r beh hind the project is that th here exists more m commu unality betwe een the class srooms and curricula in n Scandinavi ia than differ rences and th hat learning and educatio on will impro ove from the e communal teaching. A side effect will be incre eased digital competencies. The virtu ual classroom ms are depen ndent on the use of ICT T(Information n and Commu unicationTech hnology) and d the teachers s and students s alike will benefit b from using ICT for learning purposes and d thereby obt tain a higher degree of digital literacy or at least improve in ls and compe etencies (Bels shaw, 2011a; 2011b). digital skill
B Backgroun d
In the e Nordic coun ntries (Norde en, literally: the t North) th here has been n a political u urge to regard d Norden (translate: the North i.e. the Nordic countries) as a unified entity. This urg ge to see the N Nordic count tries as one, s opposed fro om two sides. . On one hand d, there is an idea of natio onal specificit ty; and on the e other hand, however, is there is a sense s of a gl lobal or Euro opean belong ging and long ging. The strengths of the ese geo-political stances have chang ged over time e and vary fro om country to o country and d the beliefs and their pol litical implica ations are at times heavily debated ( stergaard, 1997; 1 Vamme en, 1997). v importan nt kind of un nity between the Nordic countries c stem ms from their r common la anguage and One very this is in particular p tru ue for the thr ree Scandinav vian countrie es: Sweden, Norway N and Denmark. The T national languages in Scandinav via are at leas st to some ex xtent mutually y intelligible. There exists some barrie ers between ages and one e estimate is s that a Swe ede, for insta ance, underst tanding appr roximately 60% Danish the langua (Gooskens, 2010). The e inter comp prehension between b the Scandinavian ns is close e enough to consider the
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Scandinavia a linguistically unity. This mutually intelligibility is a basic assumption and rationale for the Transnational Nordic Teaching Program. Furthermore, the Scandinavian countries share cultural history and have been part of the same sovereignty in more historical periods of time. The Scandinavian countries also form a kind of regional unity in that they basically share the same model of the welfare state. The countries share a high level of income taxation and high standards of public services for all citizens. It should, however, not be neglected that there are both very big and a lot of more subtle differences between the Scandinavian countries. There is, therefore, an ongoing political effort to make the region stronger by working out new models for closer collaboration and a partial upheaval of national differences without any intention to form a communal state. Making Scandinavia a primus motor for economically growth is high on the Scandinavian political agenda not least in the SK-region. The Transnational Nordic Teaching Program is to be seen as part of this urge to make the region a leading force in economically growth by investing in education.
Challenges With Cloud Based Classroom

Half way through the project, it is now possible to consider some of the findings and share some of the experiences from the project. The author has himself been part of the research team that supports the teachers in innovating new ways of teaching virtual classrooms. There are six research teams. One for each of the subjects taught in the virtual Nordic classrooms: national language, science, math and history/social science; Then there is a cross-subject research team dealing with pedagogical issues specifically related to the use of digital technologies for educational purposes; and finally, there is a group connected to the level of school principals; school management. The author is part of the national language research team and the cross-subject team. In this paper the author will try to convey some preliminary findings drawing on experiences from across the subjects taught. The author will focus on issues connected with the use of ICT for teaching in cloud based classrooms. My perspective is basically in line with that of the teachers and in a lesser degree the author takes in the perspective of students and management. In an earlier published study from the Transnational Nordic Teaching Program, Nordic Innovation Networks in Education: Dealing with Educational Challenges with Cross Border Collaboration and User Driven Design, Maria Spante and her colleagues focus on the general challenges for the participants in the project. The study find three major areas of challenges that potential are jeopardizing the programs overall objectives:
We have identified three major thresholds to overcome. The first is related to technical difficulties in schools when diverse IT systems are to be synchronized. The second threshold concerns scheduling coordination difficulties in order to allow synchronous cross border collaboration. The third threshold concerns linguistic and communication difficulties rooted in participants communicating in their respective Nordic language. (Spante et al., 2012, p. 553)
The author finds the highlighted issues to the point. But the authors focus will be somewhat different in that he will concentrate on what learning can be extracted from the teachers struggle with the issues mentioned. To succeed teaching a virtual classroom preparation and planning are keys. Teaching cloud based differs in so many respects from ordinary classroom teaching in that there are a lot of new dependencies: schedules across institutions situated in different countries, technologies, and communication difficulties.
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The rest of this paper will bring forward the key findings for what the teachers have to take into account and what they have to pay a special attention to make the cross border teaching work.
Findings
As described above the basic model for development of innovative teaching concepts for Transnational Nordic Teaching is cloud based collaboration between classes (teachers and students) from the three countries. Swedish, Norwegian and Danish students are simultaneously taught by an inter-Scandinavian group of teachers. It is an underlying assumption that this way of teaching ads a Nordic surplus value to the teaching when it comes to learning outcome, inter comprehension and forming a communal Nordic understanding and identity. This way of organizing teaching is build upon a fundamental believe that there exists a common Nordic pedagogy; a pedagogical thinking inherent in the teaching and teaching methods used in the Scandinavian countries. After all, the differences there exist between the students and teachers in the countries are treated as strengths that increase problem solving skills through dialog and negotiation between different perspectives (which in itself often is highlighted as a Nordic teaching tradition). Secondly, the differences are not regarded as grounded in the different nations or cultures but as nuances and variations within a particular Nordic tradition with communal roots. The project has now been through 3-4 iteration and a picture has crystallized suggesting certain returning challenges in the planning, in the execution and in the evaluation of virtual classrooms. We have seen some successes and some challenges in the virtual classrooms and in the collaboration between teachers. In this paper, however, the author will only describe the teachers experiences insofar as they are connected with the concrete planning, execution and evaluation of teaching. The author will not go into a discussion of challenges that comes from the organizing of the project as such, although there is a lot of learning from that perspective as well. This paper will try to pave a common ground for understanding some specific concerns that should be dealt with when engaging in transnational teaching in cloud based classrooms. The discussion will fall into the pedagogical categories: before, during, and after the class based teaching activities: (1) Teacher collaborationplanning and preparation (before); (2) Teaching activities (during); (3) student products and assessment (after). Teacher CollaborationPlanning and Preparation It is crucial that the Planning of Transnational Teaching in virtual classroom begins long time ahead of the actual teaching activities with students. It simply takes longer to plan and prepare transnational teaching than traditional teaching. This may sound very banal and commonsensical, but it has been a surprise for a lot of the participating teachers how much longer preparation takes for transnational teaching. First of all, it is important that the involved teachers establish a common ground for their mutual teaching. There is a lot of negotiation and discussion on how to understand the common subject and how actually conduct the teaching the best way. Finding appropriate teaching resources that the teachers can agree on will often take longer because the teachers can take nothing for granted in that they have another teacher from a neighboring country to collaborate with. Although teachers have a firm belief in material they are use to choose for an activity, this belief might very well be debated by another teachernot least when that teacher has another national teaching background. The teachers have to familiarize themselves with the tools, they have to use for the transnational
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collaboration both in the planning phase and later in the planned activities where the students will be using cross border collaboration tools. And the planning itself has to take place using the ICT tools as Skype, Google Hangout, Adobe Connect or similar services that also will be used for teaching and the students work. Planning at a distance is different from meeting face-to-face with colleagues that have known each other for years as colleagues at the same school. Some of the challenges, the teachers will meet are connected to the ICT involved. Teachers have to be focused on their own digital competencies and for a great number of teachers they have to improve on their digital competencies to make transnational planning work. There is a clear difference between knowing a tool on the one side and on the other using a tool to solve the tasks involved with teaching planning, executing, and assessing. Scheduling also becomes much more tiresome. Involved are two different schools with different traditions and the planning has to take these differences into considerations. Seasonal holidays are not coordinated between the countries and this might cause some difficulties planning communal teaching. To change schedules is no longer possible on the fly which might be for collaboration on the same school being in the same buildings. Some of the very practical elements in planning come as a surprise for teachers involved in transnational teaching planning for the first time. In Scandinavia, teachers are used to be self-managed, and it is normally easy for them to reschedule on their own. But in transnational collaboration the school as an administrative system becomes evident and scheduling becomes a bigger challenge than normal. It will be helpful in the planning and preparation phase if the teachers in the involved Scandinavian countries have more meetings to get acquainted and that they also focus on the similarities and not least the differences in curricula in the respective countries. This is important in that the teaching has to be planned so it meets the different national standards and additional also meet the objective of the surplus value coming from the cross-border collaboration between students. There has to be particular attention to secure both of these goals in the planning phase. In the planning phase, there are both technical issues and issues that have to do with the content of teachingand not least the connection between the two. In the preparation, it is the teachers obligation to find the way best to secure the national and transnational learning objectives are met. Some of the teachers have taken in the longer timeframe in scheduling, preparation, and keep in touch regularly, also between the actual experiments with the virtual classroom. We, however, still see experiments that do not work out well partly due to too little focus on timely thorough planning. An explanation for the failing could be that the long standing tradition for teachers to be very autonomous and self reliant. This interpretation is not substantiated in the material and is here only mentioned as a hypothesis. Teaching Activities The cross-border activities will fall within different categories as: synchronous communication (between teachers, between students, between teacher(s) and student(s)), asynchronous communication, instruction, collaboration, discussion, assessment etc.. Whatever the activities there has to be a certain attention to the tools used for the activities. How well do the tools fit the activity? How well do the students, teachers or other people involved master the toolsare the students, for instance, able to actually do what they want to do or are they only doing what the tool (or the students understanding of the tool) let them do? How do teachers or other support the activities?
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The teachers of course have to be able to help students achieving what the teachers have planned. And in order to supply the assistance needed teachers have to have skills on a certain levelthey have to be competent users of the tools themselves for a basic level of the activities. Sometimes, students will find other waysother toolsin order to solve the tasks. Teachers should be very supportive of that and point students in directions for obtain what they want to obtain in their urge to find solutions within the framework of the teaching. The chances for success increases if the teachers thoroughly have tried out the tools themselves and that they challenge the tools and what one is capable of with the tools. The challenging of the tools will often give a deeper understanding of the different tools. Teaching activities can benefit from learning activities that sometimes let the students play with the tools. It should not be a preconception of the teachers that students per se are competent users of digital tools. First of all, there are many differences within the group of students in their skills and competencies when it comes to usage of digital technologies. The students are not digital natives (Thomas, 2011; White & Alison, 2011; Perensky, 2001). Secondly, it is important to notice that the purpose of technology use is part of the skill and competence. To use digital tools for learning purposes within a given framework and with specific learning objectives differs in great deal from spare time and interest driven activities. In transnational teaching there has to be a particular attention to communication on all levels. There will be linguistically as well as, cultural differences, which makes communication more difficult and thereby affects the teaching and the teaching outcome. Although the participants in Transnational Scandinavian Teaching are using their mother tongue the understanding of each other lack a great deal. This lacking of understanding is furthermore increased by the dependence on digital communication tools which reduce bandwidth considerably. To succeed in transnational teaching there has to be focus on these communication challenges and it is recommendable to make the challenges themselves a topic in the teaching. In that way, the teaching will take advantage of the necessity and by integrating a meta-communication level also enrich the teaching making higher order thinking part of basic teaching. There has been a special attention on how the different means of communication used affect the communication. When students traditionally use communication technology to communicate, they communicate with people they know in advance or they establish contact with people on a different level than themselves (call authority person or someone in a different position as they are themselves). The situation is different in a transnational teaching setting. There are particular challenges with communication between students who have not voluntarily chosen to communicate with students from another country. The students are equals and yet strangers which is a particular communication situation within traditional teaching. Not surprisingly the students need time to get to know each other and to build trust in each other. The communication situation is a special one and it differs from communication situations the students are familiar with. Therefore, it is recommended that the students gradually try out forms of collaboration switching between synchronous and asynchronous activitiesand from simple forms of expression (i.e., text and image as a presentation of a student) to more complicated forms of communication or collaboration (i.e., synchronous writing on a cartoon explaining electricity and the smart grid). It has been a communal experience that multimodal communication is better suited in cross-border collaboration. One of the benefits with multimodal communication is that communication is working on more
675
levels simultaneously: textual, sound, and visual. The redundancy of the message is probably the explanation for why multimodal communication is working better in cross-border communication. Remember that the students are communicating in their mother tongue and that even if the languages involved are mutually intelligible they differs to a not small degree (maybe up to 40% of words are not immediately understood by the students from the neighboring country). There should be special attention to what synchronous communication demands of the participating students since it has been experienced to be a particularly challenging form of collaboration. Synchronous communication involves both general communication barriers as well as technical challenges due to the tools maturity. Student Products and Assessment The results of the teaching benefit have to be documented in some kind of tangible student product. To make the teaching activities in a way that forces the students to create a collaborative product is essential to improve on the cloud based teaching. The collaboratively produced student products are the best documents to establish what has worked with what result in the experiment. The surplus valuethe Nordic componentis only readable in student products. The students might use blog tools, wikis or other digital tools documenting at least the product of their communal work. From a researchers point of view it is preferable with student products that also make the collaborative processes visible. In Google Docs, for instance, you can go back in versions and see when who made which changes, which give an insight in how students negotiate meaning. The teaching planning, execution and evaluation must be evaluated in its own right. Didactic reflexion (or pedagogical reflexion) should be part of every teachers normal practice (Laurillard, 2012, pp. 215-217). In particular when one is trying out new methods and introducing new ways of doing things it becomes absolutely indispensable to reflect the bits and pieces of the whole process. The teaching team should do this immediately after the teaching and they should do it in a form which is communicable and, hence, sharable with others. In that way, the teaching team contribute to a larger collectively shared pole of experience with transnational-cross border-teaching; they become connected teachers (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall, 2011). The process evaluation should also take the students experience into consideration. It would be very informative if the students could evaluate the process both in the national and in the transnational classroom. The students voices need to be heard in order to improve on the teaching practices. It is crucial that the evaluations are focused on the particular aims of the transnational Scandinavian teaching.
Conclusions
The experiences working with cloud based classrooms show that there are huge potentials for this kind of organizing teaching. The students are forced in a direction of more authentic collaborative problem solving tasks. They have to work in ways that are more inquiry based, more investigative, more network dependent. Knowledge is seen as something that results from working together (Nowotny, Scott & Gibbons, 2001; Siemens, 2005; Downes, 2007; Christensen, 2012). In the authors mind there is no doubt that the kind of teaching as is experimented with in the Transnational Scandinavian Classroom and similarly the Global Classroom (Retrieved from http://www.global-classroom.org/) will grow in the future. The collaborative network based model of teaching is one way to tackle the educational challenges of the 21st century. At the same time working with these kinds of teaching approaches also show that there is some way to go.
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The mindset of teachers and teaching institutions are grounded in the upcoming of common education which is part of the industrial revolution. It may be a banality that schools resembles the assembly line - and there will be lot of evidence that a lot have changed since the 19th century. But the thinking that teaching takes place as instruction of truth and skills have not changed that much. Along with the challenge of mindsets in which education founded there are other challenges to be overcome as the understanding of the teaching profession: what is the objective of teaching. Going into that discussion is another paper. Finally, the author will mention the challenges with the tools. ICT is a big challenge for cloud based classroom teaching. And ICT is a challenge on three different levels. The technical part: is the tools suited the tasks? The political part: is the administration of school policy ready to break down the walls that keep schools as islands isolated from the rest of the world? And finally the competency part: are teachers ready to embrace the digital tools so they can use the tools for teaching and not just teach what tools (or lack of tools) allow for? A lot of teachers and schools have gone a long wayand experimenting with Virtual Classroom in the CloudTransnational Scandinavian Teaching with ICT is one step in that direction.
References
Belshaw, D. (2011a). What is digital literacy? [A Pragmatic investigation]. Retrieved from http://neverendingthesis.com/doug-belshaw-edd-thesis-final.pdf Belshaw, D. (2011b). The essential elements of digital literacies. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/dajbelshaw/the-essential-elements-of-digital-literacies Downes, S. (2007). What connectivism is. Retrieved from http://halfanhour.blogspot.dk/2007/02/what-connectivism-is.html Christensen, O. (2012). Forbundne undervisereaktivt PLN som lbende kompetenceudvikling (In Danish. TR: Connected educatorsan active PLN as continous competence development). UngePdagoger, nr. 4, 37-48. Gooskens, C. (2010). Lneord gr det lettere at forst nabosprogene. Retrieved from http://kommunikationsmaaling.dk/artikel/laneord-goer-det-lettere-at-forsta-nabosprogene/ Interreg IVA, Grnseoverskridende Nordisk Undervisning (GNU). Retrieved from http://www.interreg-oks.eu/en/Menu/Projects/Project+List+%C3%96resund-Kattegat-Skagerrak/GNU Laurillard, D. (2012). Teaching as a design science. Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology. London: Routledge. Nowotny, H., Scott, P., & Gibbons, M. (2001). Rethinking science: Knowledge in an age of uncertainty. London: Polity Press. Nussbaum-Beach, S., & Ritter Hall, L. (2011). The connected educator: Learning and leading in a digital age (Kindle Edition). Bloomington. Solution Tree. stergaard, U. (1997). The geopolitics of nordic identityfrom composite states to nation states. In . Srensen., & B. Strth (Eds.), The cultural construction of norden (pp. 25-71). Oslo: Sage. Perensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf Spante, M., Lundh Snis, U., Nilsson, A., Nilsson, L., Pareto, A., Petersen, A. L., Wicke, A. (2012). Nordic innovation networks in education: Dealing with educational challenges with cross boarder collaboration and user driven design. Retrieved from http://hv.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:581684 Thomas, M. (Ed.). (2011). Deconstructing digital natives. young people, technology, and the new literacies. London: Routledge. Vammen, H. (1997). National internationalism, thorvaldsens museum bulletin. Copenhagen: Thorvaldsens Museum. White, D. S., & Alison, L. C. (2011). Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).

2013.10 Journal of Literature and Art Studies

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Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Volume 3, Number 10, October 2013 (Serial Number 23)

David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com

David Publishing Company www.davidpublishing.com

Journal of Literature and Art Studies

Confucian Thoughts in Ezra Pounds The Pisan Cantos

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

Confucian Philosophy and The Cantos

Tom Scott, a Poundian scholar, has written:

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

CONFUCIAN THOUGHTS IN EZRA POUNDS THE PISAN CANTOS

Pound, a Confucian in the West

EXPLORING ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THROUGH LITERATURE

When Gods Cry: Retelling the Stories of the Folk

EXPLORING ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THROUGH LITERATURE

Environmental Crisis, the Indigenous Peoples Experience, and Literature

EXPLORING ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THROUGH LITERATURE

EXPLORING ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THROUGH LITERATURE

EXPLORING ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS THROUGH LITERATURE

Zdenk Fibich as a Wagnerian

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

Analytical Remark on Don Juans Aria

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

Verismo and Czech Composers

ZDENK FIBICHS OPERA HEDY AS A CZECH TRISTAN

Dance and Negotiation of Identity: A Case Study From Northern Greece

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

The Dance Event: The Associations Annual Ball (2005)

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

DANCE AND NEGOTIATION OF IDENTITY: A CASE STUDY FROM NORTHERN GREECE

Gothic Heritage in Renaissance Mantua

Il RioEdizioni, Mantua, Italy

The Palaces of Ludovico II Gonzaga and the Medieval Tradition

GOTHIC HERITAGE IN RENAISSANCE MANTUA

GOTHIC HERITAGE IN RENAISSANCE MANTUA

Figure 1. Revere (Mantua), the Palace of Ludovico 2nd Gonzaga.

Figure 2. Motteggiana (Mantua), the villa of Ludovico 2nd Gonzaga.

GOTHIC HERITAGE IN RENAISSANCE MANTUA The City Palaces

Gothic Heritage and Private Houses

GOTHIC HERITAGE IN RENAISSANCE MANTUA

Figure 3. Mantua, Piazza Marconi 16, the house of Giuliano Lanzini.

Figure 4. Mantua, Via Cavriani 4, the palace of Gian Maria Calvisano.