Ethnology
The anthropological context and the approach to mentalities throughout history.
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Byzantium
In Greece, starting with its ancient Morea, it sometimes feels like… it’s still Byzantium. The setting is certainly there, with its old palaces overlooking olive groves and ancient fortifications, the kind once thought impregnable. No doubt, the modern visitor is quite captivated.
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Saint-Georges-des-Châles
April 23rd is a day when we celebrate, as it should be, Saint George’s Day. It must be said that it is a significant moment in the traditional calendar, or at least what remains of it.
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Once upon a time in Lesbos
Those who travelled to the Greek islands up until the 1970s could still boast of having encountered their countless primal truths, inevitably brought from the seas. If possible, they even penetrated the soul of the country beyond its unalterable archaeological veneer.
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The end of feta
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little country that was newly open to visitors, one that people were happy to discover, including through its traditional feta.
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Beyond the Meteors
Modernity being what it is, Christmas in Greece is already a substitute, with the added bonus of spit-roasted meats that are still quite local. This is how the town of Trikala in Western Thessaly is currently lavishly decorated, while its so-called “Christmas” amusement park, whose official, marketed name is “Elves Park,” experiences its heyday during this time of year.
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Notebook of a young ethnologist in Lesbos
In that distant year of 1989, I landed on the island of Lesbos for my first fieldwork trip, that of the budding ethnologist I was, or… that I thought I was. I was 23 years old at the time. Thirty-seven years later, in December 2025, I have just published my Lesbos notebooks in French, the self-published book of which is available on Amazon under the title : “Carnet d’un jeune ethnologue à Lesbos (1989): Voyage dans la Grèce oubliée des pêcheurs à la sardine, en anticipation subjective du chaos à venir”.