article
Meaning and morality: a semiotic approach to evil eye accusatiobns in a Greek village
American ethnologist • 8 (3) • Published In 1981 • Pages: 560-574
By: Herzfeld, Michael.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Herzfeld analyzes evil eye (THIARMOS) as an expression of social deviancy and nonreciprocity. Evil eye accusations are leveled at members of the village who shun or igore the everyday acts of reciprocity that constitute the moral and social life of the village. Such people are considered defective in character (GRUSUZIA) and victims of bad fate. Herzfeld analyzes the terms for fate (MIRA) and personal character (FISIKO) and gives four cases of GRUSUZIA. He concludes that 'deviants'systematically violate social boundaries within and between communities.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Status, role, and prestige
- Community structure
- Luck and chance
- Magic
- Ethnopsychology
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Greeks
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2003
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Europe
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeastern Europe
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2002
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1973-1974
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1949-1974
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- 'Pefko', Rhodes, Greece
- NotesAdditional notes
- Michael Herzfeld
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 572-574)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 74644326
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Greece