Community News
After this Newsletter was prepared, but before it went to press, we learned with sadness of the passing of three members of our community: Dr. Nicholas A. Sholler, Vasil L. Bellas, and John Ghnouly. May their souls rest in peace. Metsovo on the World Wide Web: We knew that American Vlachs have been surfing the …
What’s In a Name? The Greece – Macedonia Conflict
by Thomas W. Balamaci* When presented with the course requirement last fall of writing a term paper about a current diplomacy issue of international interest for my international relations class, I saw the opportunity for research about a hot and relevant conflict that also related to my dual Vlach-Greek heritage. Although this research had very …
Did You Know What Others Have to Say about Us?
Contemporary Greek folk music is related to both classical Greek and Byzantine church music. Certain folk dance types and their musical meters are directly related to classical ones, while certain modes and melodic characteristics, with their inherent ornamental techniques, are largely derived from Byzantine ecclesiastic music. In a description of Greek music and the numerous …
Zig Zags and Crossroads: Subsequent Field Research on the Vlachs of Albania, Summer 1995
The Road to Gjirokastėr I began my journey to Albania with two days in Anilion [Greece], my favourite and first Vlach village. The tunnel through the Katara pass is now completed, but the road to it is not finished. When the road is in place, Anilion will be a tourist trap, and in anticipation of …
The Balkan Vlachs: Born to Assimilate?
(Editor’s note: This article is reprinted from the Summer 1995 issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly.) The Vlachs are a Romance-speaking Balkan population once characterized by a transhumant lifestyle. Among their many other characteristics one must count an uncanny way of making those who study them question their most fundamental notions about ethnic groups and cultural survival. …