The snake and the flute – Meglen-Vlach Collection

Stella Vragali narrates in Meglen Vlach of Archangelos (Oshanj), Greece.

Vanishing Languages and Cultural Heritage (VLACH) ID-number: megl1237GRV0005a

Description:
Travelling through the past of 1950s Archangelos, Northern Greece (Oshanj), Stella Vragali, in this video accompanied by Stella Koziari, narrates a series of unique stories that marked her as a little girl. Through her autobiographical interviews, Stella gifts us with her love for stories on miracles performed through the intercession of Saints and everyday life happenings. Her stories reveal the portrait and the harsh reality of a village and at the same time of a little girl's life through the eyes of the later distinguished woman she is today. Most of the stories reflect the social relationships and structures, the social and religious norms of those times. While she is defining the past in the most original way, her sources of knowledge and inspiration is often called to be her family circle that shaped her views on life, social behavior and religious morals for the most part. "The snake and the flute", the first story to be recalled here, resembles a fairy tale. A snake that cannot get enough of drinking the milk from people's cattle finds its end when almost fantastic, though real forces come to help. This narrative shows that the community would almost always have to get back to the elders' experiences and use uncommon practices in order to restore peace to the village. In the interviews' second part we find out more about snake species and other animals to whom the village and the region are home. We then learn how some sentient beings, in this case, the mole, can become part of the traditional medical practice and even cure wounds.

Cite as:
Šárpili ši sfirélu – The snake and the flute; performers: Stella Vragali, Stella Koziari; camera/ interview: Andreea Pascaru, transcription/ translation: Thede Kahl, Andreea Pascaru; editor: Antonio Fichera, retrieved from www.oeaw.ac.at/VLACH, ID number: megl1237GRV0005a.

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The Commission Vanishing Languages and Cultural Heritage (VLACH) aims to contribute to the academic knowledge of the world’s linguistic diversity by investigating nondocumented and lesser-documented languages and varieties. VLACH is committed to develop strategies of language maintenance and to nurture cultural heritage in close collaboration with the diverse communities involved in the VLACH projects.

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Видео The snake and the flute – Meglen-Vlach Collection канала Vanishing Languages and Cultural Heritage