Dangerous Voices

by Gail Holst-Warhaft

In Dangerous Voices Holst-Warhaft investigates the power and meaning of the ancient lament, especially women's mourning of the dead, and sets out to discover why legislation was introduced to curb these laments in antiquity. An investigation of laments ranging from New Guinea to Greece suggests that this essentially female art form gave women considerable power over the rituals of death. The threat they posed to the Greek state caused them to be appropriated by male writers including the tragedians. Holst-Warhaft argues that the loss of the traditional lament in Greece and other countries not only deprives women of their traditional control over the rituals of death but leaves all mourners impoverished.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

As well as being a poet, Gail Holst-Warhaft has been a journalist, broadcaster, prose-writer, academic, musician, and translator. She left Australia, in 1965 and moved to Greece. During the Greek dictatorship of 1967-74, she moved back to Australia, studying harpsichord and becoming a journalist. In the 1970’s, while researching a book on Greek music, she performed with Greece’s leading composers, including Mikis Theodorakis, Dionysis Savvopoulos, and Mariza Koch. Two books on Greek music followed. Later she began translating Modern Greek poetry and prose. Moving to Ithaca, New York, in 1980, she married, completed a Ph. D. in Comparative Literature and Classics and had a family. In the 1990’s, having joined the Institute for European Studies, Gail wrote two books on laments and grief and began publishing her own poetry. She founded a Mediterranean Studies Initiative and organized conferences, concerts and talks. On a trip to Greece in 2009, she became seriously concerned about the water crisis in many parts of the country. For the last eight years she has worked with faculty and students from a number of different departments to address water issues in the region.

Reviews

[foteini_dl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Μα καλά, πώς μπορεί να είναι επικίνδυνες οι μοιρολογίστρες και οι στίχοι των μοιρολογιών; Έχουν μήπως κάποια δύναμη;

Η απάντηση είναι μέσα στις 300+ σελίδες του βιβλίου, οι οποίες διατρέχουν πολλά χρόνια -από την αρχαιότητα μέχρι τον 20ό αιώνα. Και σίγουρα δεν είναι ούτε απλή ούτε μονοδιάστατη.

Ένα βιβλίο που αποδεικνύει πως η λέξη και οι κραυγές και η σιωπή έχουν δύναμη.

Ένα βιβλίο που κάναμε 30 χρόνια να το δούμε στα ελληνικά (και μπράβο στις εκδ. Δωδώνη που σταμάτησαν το κοντέρ).