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Remarks on the folk culture of Thessaly on the basis offieldwork research

• Πολυμέρου-Καμηλάκη, Αικατερίνη

Thessaly, a region of central Greece, situated literally in the crossroads of different peoples and cultures ever since the haze of legend, constitutes a challenge for the folklorist-ethnologist. That's because mainly the productive lowland area of the Thessalian plaine attracted diverse populations, permanently installed or transitional. The movements of pastoral communities from the mountains pastoral sites to the lowland winter pastures, but also of various professional groups, jobseekers from different parts of the Balkans who settled down permanently after the annexation of Thessaly to Greece (1881), as well as the refugees 'settlements before and after the Asia Minor Catastrophe, create a really interesting population mosaic. Any social research therefore in such a region requires special attention in order to yield reliable results. The aim of this essay is to present in an indicative way certain aspects of the popular culture of Thessaly and of the integration of people from different parts of the Greek space as a result of traditional regular seasonal movements, like those of nomad pastoralists and seasonal workers, or of forced translocations as the population exchange after the Asia Minor Catastrophe etc. with insights from field research, commissioned by the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre, and frequent personal returns to the workfield.

• Arts

• Λαογραφία

επιτόπια έρευνα, Θεσσαλία, μετανάστευση, Πελοποννήσιοι, ελονοσία, φίδι, Όθρυς, Κάρλα, Κανάλια, Συκούριο