Biography
Ethnomusicologist with a special interest in the anthropological study of music. She
was born in Serres, in 1972. She graduated from the department of History and
Archaeology (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) and continued her
postgraduate studies in Ethnomusicology at Goldsmiths, University of London (U.K.).
Her doctoral thesis was supervised by Pr. John Baily and was published under the title
Rebetiko Worlds: Ethnomusicology and Ethnography in the City (Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, 2007). She also studied piano and music theory at the Contemporary
Conservatory of Thessaloniki (Greece). She is currently editing a collection of essays
entitled Singing Europe: Spectacle and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest, which
will be published in the series Europea: Ethnomusicologies and Modernities by
Scarecrow Press (series editors: Philip Bohlman and Martin Stokes). She is the author
of entries for the Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World (Vol. VIIIXII: Genres, edited by John Sepherd and David Horn). Her research interests focus on
the ethnographic representation of music, europeaness and the politics of spectacle,
soundscapes and the senses. She is teaching courses on anthropology of music at the
department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology (Univ. of Thessaly).
Courses
2000-2006. Lecturer at the department of Music Science and Art (Univ. of
Macedonia, Thessaloniki). Courses taught: Ethnomusicology and Folklore, Musics of
Oriental Cultures, Musics of the World, Introduction to the Study of Traditional
Music, History of Greek Music, Folklore Studies.
2004-2011. Lecturer at the department of History, Archaeology and Social
Anthropology, Univ. of Thessaly. Courses taught: Ethnomusicology, Interdisciplinary
Approaches to the Study of Music Culture, Music and Gender, Urban Anthropology,
Anthropology of Performance, Music Cultures in Europe, Anthropology of Music,
Anthropology of Sound, Music and History in the Greek city, Ethnography of Music,
Music and Politics, City and Culture, Soundscapes and Culture.
Postgraduate courses: Music Cultures (2008-2009), Music and Europeaness (20102011).
Publications:
A. Monographs / Edited volumes

Tragaki, Dafni, 2007. Rebetiko Worlds. Ethnomusicology and Ethnography in
the City, London, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Edited version
of the doctoral thesis. For further information visit http://www.c-sp.org/Flyers/Rebetiko-Worlds.htm.

(forthcoming) Tragaki, Dafni (editor). Singing Europe: Spectacle and Politics
in the Eurovision Song Contest, Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Oxford:
Scarecrow
Press.
In
the
series,
Europea:
Ethnomusicology
and
Modernities.Series editors: Philip Bohlman και Martin Stokes.
B. Chapters in edited volumes

2005. «Humanizing the ‘masses’: enlightened intellectuals and the music of
the ‘people’». In, The Mediterranean in Music: Critical Perspectives,
Common Concerns, Cultural Differences. Editors: David Cooper and Kevin
Dawe. Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Oxford: Scarecrow Press., pp. 49-75.

«Rebetiko» and «Βouzouki music». Entries for the Continuum Encyclopedia
of Popular Music of the World, Volumes VIII - XII: GENRES. Εditors: John
Shepherd και David Horn. The Continuum International Publishing Group
Limited (London, U.K.).

[forthcoming].
«Sounds
of
monstrosity.
Spectacular
ontologies
of
Europeaness». In, Singing Europe. Spectacle and Politics in the Eurovision
Song Context. Editor: Dafni Tragaki. Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Oxford:
Scarecrow Press.

[forthcoming]. «Ιntroduction». Introductory chapter for Singing Europe.
Spectacle and Politics in the Eurovision Song Context. Editor: Dafni Tragaki.
Lanham, Maryland, Toronto, Oxford: Scarecrow Press.

2010. «Εpistemological questions for the ethnographic study of music». In,
Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences. Epistemological, Methodological and
Moral Issues. Editors: M.. Dafermos and M. Pourkos. Αthens: Topos.
C. Articles in periodicals

2003. Introduction, critical discussion and translation in Greek of the article
«Amin-e Diwaneh: the musician as madman» by John Baily (originally
published in Popular Music, The South Asia/West Crossover, Paul Oliver and
John Baily, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press, Vol. 7 (2), 1988: 133-146). Journal
Μusikologia, January 2003, pp. 171-190.

2006. «‘Other sounds’: music, heterotopia and orientalism in postcolonial
worls». In, Music, Sound and Space. Tetradia (Νο 1), Publications of the
School of Folk and Traditional Music, Hepirus, Arta, 2006, pp. 11-18.
D. Conference proceedings

2006. «Songs of the miserables: modern times and the music of the ‘collective
sadness’». Proceedings of the conference Agricultural Society and Folk
Culture, 25-27.05.2005. Organization: French Institute of Athens, Panteio
University, Agricultural University of Athens.

«Byzantine music and ethnography: theoretical and methodological
suggestions». In, Byzantine Music in the 21st c.: Problematics and
Perspectives. Proceedings of the conference organized by the Univ. of
Macedonia, Dept. of Music Science and Art.

[forthcoming]. «The ‘nearby us Orient’ in the digital world: sampling and
hybridity». In, Folklore Studies in Greece and Turkey. Proceedings of the
conference organized by Univ. of Thessaly.
E. Film
Ethnomusicological research and soundtrack for the film «Αthanasios Athanasiou,
and
eternal
life»,
Αthens:
ΙΝΚΑΣ
Film
&
TV
Productions,
2000.
(http://www.inkasfilms.com/documentaries.html). Screened at the Thessaloniki
Documentary Festival of (Μarch 2000), Kalamata International Documentary
Film Festival (Οctober 2000), Festival Εureka Screening, Istanbul (2001), Music
Documentary Festival, Rome (February 2005), 6th Annual Festival of Greek
Cinema, San Francisco.
Research
 1997. Research in the region of Serres for the “Organization and Management of
Cultural Programs” (Greek Ministry of Education/ Greek Ministry of Culture).
 July-August 1999. Preliminary music research in Rodopi region (Greece, Bulgaria,
Eastern Thrace) for the Research Institute on Music and Acoustics (Athens).
 September 1999. Data taxonomy for the construction of the electronic database on
Greek music for the Research Institute on Music and Acoustics (Athens).
 2001-2003. Ethnomusicological research and fieldwork trips to the city of Kavala
and the island of Thasos for the research program “Macedonia” (Lilian Voudouri
Library, Athens Concert Hall). Editing of the ethnographic data for the database of
the research program.
 2006-2011. Research on the politics of the Eurovision Song Contest. Field trip to
Belgrade, Μay 2008 / fieldtrip to Dusseldorf, May 2011.
 Current research interests:
-
Filmic representation of music
-
City soundscapes, senses of the city and the representation of the city in
sound.
Conferences / lectures /seminars
Conferences
Α. International
 2001. «Doing urban ethnomusicology at home: theoretical and methodological
orientations for understanding rebetiko music culture today». Paper presented at
the conference Researching Rebetiko: Present Projects and Future Prospects.
Organization: Τhe Institute for Rebetology (Ed Emery). Hydra, 18-21 October
2001.
 2002. «The nostalgia for the lost innocence of Greek music: performing
authenticity in the context of rebetiko song revival in Thessaloniki». Paper
presented at the conference Ethnomusicology and Authenticity. Organization:
British Forum for Ethnomusicology. Goldsmiths, Univ. of London, 9.11.2002.
 2004. «Conceptualizing home: the intangible ‘ours’». Paper presented at the annual
conference of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology at Home Transformed States. University of Aberdeen (U.K.), 15-18 April 2004.
 2005. «The songs of the miserables: modern times and the music of the ‘collective
sadness’». Paper presented at the conference Agricultural Society and Folk
Culture, 25-27.05.2005. Organization: French Institute of Athens, Panteio
University, Agricultural Univ. of Athens.
 2008. «Sounds of monstrosity. Spectacular ontologies of Europeaness». Paper
presented at the conference Singing Europe. Spectacle and Politics in the
Eurovision Song Contest. Univ. of Thessaly, Dept. of History, Archaeology and
Social Anthropology. Volos, 29.02 – 02.03 2008.
 2008. «The ‘depth’ of the ‘surface’, the ‘surface’ of the ‘depth’: re-visiting
Blacking’s theory on structures». Joint paper (with Emilios Tsekenis, Univ. of
Aegean) presented at the conference Music Structures. Organization: Fourth
Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology (CIM 08), Dept. of Music Studies,
Aristotle Univ., ESCOM (European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music),
ESEM (European Society for Ethnomusicology) and ΙMS (International
Musicological Society). Thessaloniki, 02-05 July 2008.
 2009. «Urban folk song research: past and present orientations». Paper presented at
the conference Μusic and Society. Organization: Univ. of Cyprus, Cyprus
Musicological Society. Nicosia: 21-22 March 2009.
 2009. «Rebetiko revival, heterotopia and cosmopolitanism». Paper presented at the
annual conference of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Μusic, Culture and
Globalization. Organization: John Moores University, Liverpool, 16-19 April
2009.
 2010. «Τhe ‘great divide’, the ‘popular’ and ‘the expert’». Paper presented at the
annual conference of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Musical Knowledge.
Organization: Oxford University (U.K.), 8-11 April 2010.
 2010. Chair for the panel «Μusic and State Socialism», at the annual conference of
the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Musical Knowledge. Organization: Oxford
University (U.K.), 8-11 April 2010.

2010. «The music of ‘the nearby us Orient’ today». Paper presented at the
conference Folklore Studies in Greece and Turkey. Organization: Univ. of
Thessaly, Volos, 5-6 June 2010.
 2010. «‘Crossing the Bridge’. Filmic representations of the everyday in music».
Paper presented at the international conference The Everyday.
Organization:
Greek Semiotic Society, Dept. of French Studies and Modern Languages, Univ. of
Cyprus, Nicosia, 5-7 November 2010.
Β. In Greece

2003. «The experience of music in field research as a way of being-in-theworld». Paper presented at the conference Theoretical and Methodological
Approaches to the Research and Study of Music Culture in Greece, Univ. of
Macedonia, 24.05.2003.
 2004. «Stathis Damianakos and the study of rebetiko». Paper presented at the
conference Stathis Damianakos and the rebetiko song. Organization:Univ. of
Thessaly, 05.05.2004.

2005. «‘Other sounds’: music, heterotopia and orientalism in the postcolonial
world». Paper presented at the conference Music, Sound and Place, School of
Traditional and Folk Music, Hepirus, Arta, 19.06.2005.

2006. «Digital sounds, ‘world music’, ‘world fusion’». Paper presented at the
conference Technoculture: New Technologies, New Epistemologies. Univ. of
Thessaly, 08.04.2006.

2007. «Byzantine music and ethnography: theoretical and methodological
suggestions». Paper presented at the conference Byzantine Music at the 21st
Century, Univ. of Macedonia, 21.04.2007.
Lectures/seminars

January 1998. «Urban entertainment places and ideological disputes: an
exploration of the pre-history of rebetiko music in Greek society at the end of 19th
century». Research talk at the postgraduate course in Ethnomusicology,
Goldsmiths, Univ. of London.

26.04.99. «Dances and songs in the city: the musical physiognomy of Athenian
society in postwar years». Lecture at the Research Institute for Music and
Acoustics (Athens).
 17.07-7.08.2003. Panel discussant for «The Balkan Studies Seminars in Olympia».
Organization: Univ. of Macedonia, Univ. of Patra, Kokkalis Foundation.
Participants: Donna Buchanan (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Sonia
Seeman (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara), Svanibor Petan (University of
Ljubljana).
 30.05.2005. «Performing authenticity today». Lecture at the dept. of English
Studies, Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki.
 12.10.2006. «Rebetiko and the Greek Left». Lecture at the dept. of History and
Anthropology, Univ. of Aegean.
 14.01.2011. «The sound of the city: filmic trajectories of the everyday in music».
Lecture at the dept. of History and Archaeology (Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki),
organized in association with the Univ. of Macedonia.