article
Sematic slippage and moral fall: the rhetoric of chastity in rural Greek society
Journal of modern Greek studies • 1 (1) • Published In 1983 • Pages: 161-172
By: Herzfeld, Michael.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper, Herzfeld examines marriage and the rhetoric of chastity in rural society. Although brides are expected to be virgins this is often not the case, today or in the past. According to Herzfeld the believed rectitude of past generations is merely an ideological construction, an unattainable ideal that nevertheless serves as a measure for human action. Supposedly, the meaning of the word GáMOS has changed over time from 'marriage' to 'copulation.' However, Herzfeld argues that the word always contained both meanings, because marriage confers the right to engage in sexual relations. Whether the latter is achieved before or after the wedding ceremony is often overlooked, especially with concerns about a woman's fertility being paramount. The past in this case is an ideological construct, not an historical fact. Ethnographers beware!
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Ethics
- Marriage
- Mode of marriage
- General character of religion
- Premarital sex relations
- 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
- 1974
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- 'Pefko', Rhodes, and 'Glendi', Crete, Greece
- NotesAdditional notes
- Michael Herzfeld
- Special Issue: Women and men in Greece : a society in transition
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 172)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 84642094
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Greece