Committed Travelers, Reluctant Listeners: Playing Music and Displaying Authority on Public Transport in Modern-Day Greece
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/GEI2302113P UDC 39:656.076.2:78(497.11) Original research paper
Abstract
This study deals with the use (and misuse) of music in modern Greek public transport, particularly in the long-distance buses, commonly known as KTEL (from their acronym). In short, Greek drivers seem to impose their own repertoire, often loudly, through speakers on passengers, who are not able (or willing) to react efficiently. This happens despite official restrictions by the Ministry of Transport on the public use of music both for drivers and passengers. This phenomenon, allied with other incidents of inappropriate treatment of passengers, has been seen by the latter as a display of power or a sign of indifference. It is also connected with other (occasional) violations by some drivers, such as smoking and talking on mobile phone (both prohibited by the law). Furthermore, the use of music is placed in the broader context of musical entertainment in modern-Greek daily life. This is probably the first such study in Greek bibliography, and among the few in international bibliography, where the issue has recently been taken up. Although I was not allowed to take formal interviews, I managed to talk to several passengers (and to a lesser extent to drivers) and keep detailed notes on the spot. Therefore, my study may be said to employ the methods of empirical investigation and participant observation in a loose sense, since I have been a regular passenger for several years.
Key words: Public transport, drivers, passengers, music listening, audience, authority
References
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Argyrou, Vassos. 1996. Tradition and Modernity in the Mediterranean: The Wedding as Symbolic Struggle. Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Augé, Marc. 1995. Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. Translated by John Howe. London – New York: Verso.
Avramea, A. 1981. « La géographie du culte de saint Christophe en Grèce de l’epoque méso-byzantine ». In Geographica byzantine, eds. H. Ahrweiler et al., 31-36. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne.
Babić, Darko, Dario Babić, Matus Sucha, Veronika Stanić & Mikulas Toman. 2021. “The influence of music genres on the driving behaviour of young drivers and their visual scanning of the environment.” Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour 81: 396-407.
Baig, Farrukh, Konstantinos Kirytopoulos, Jaeyoung Lee, Evangelos Tsamilis, Ruizhi Mao & Panagiotis Ntzeremes. 2022. “Changes in People’s Mobility Behavior in Greece after the COVID-19 Outbreak.” Sustainability 14: 3567
Bissell, David. 2009. “Travelling Vulnerabilities: Mobile Timespaces of Quiescence.” Cultural Geographies 16 (4): 427-45.
Bovolos, Nikos. 2016. «Πώς να φτάσεις ζωντανός στον προορισμό σου ταξιδεύ- οντας με ΚΤΕΛ» (How to reach your destination alive traveling by KTEL), in Provocateur.gr.
Bucuvalas, Tina & Stavros Frangos. 2018. “Overveiw of Greek Music in America”. In Greek Music in America, ed. Tina Bucuvalas, 10-40. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Chryssanthopoulou, Vassiliki. 2008. “The Evil Eye among the Greeks of Australia: Identity, Continuity and Modernization”. In Greek Magic: Ancient, Medieval and Modern, ed. J. C. P. Petropoulos, 106-118, London and New York: Routledge.
Clarke, Michael. 1975. “Survival in the Field: Implications of Personal Experience in Field Work.” Theory and Society 2 (1): 95-123.
De Certeau, Michel. 1984. The Practice of Everyday Life. Translated by Steven Rendall. Berkeley - Los Angeles - London: University of California Press.
DeNora, Tia. 2000. Music in everyday life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Devine, Kyle. 2013. “Imperfect Sound Forever: Loudness Wars, Listening Formations and the History of Sound Reproduction.” Popular Music 32 (2): 159-76.
Donatos, George. 2004. “Advertising, Anti-smoking Campaign and Cigarette Consumption in Greece.” European Research Studies Journal VII (3-4): 1-13.
Economou, Leonidas. 2017. “Skyladiko.” In Bloomsbury Encyclopaedia of the Popular Music of the World XI, eds. David Horn and John Shepherd, 725-8.
Hatuka, Tali & Eran Toch. 2016. “The Emergence of Portable Private-Personal Territory: Smartphones, Social Conduct and Public Spaces.” Urban Studies 53 (10): 2192-2208.
Hellier-Tinoco, Ruth. 2003. “Experiencing People: Relationships, Responsibility and Reciprocity.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology 12 (1): 19–34.
King, Seth et al. 2019. “Behavior Management Interventions for School Buses: A Systematic Review.” Education and Treatment of Children 42 (1): 101-28.
Hine, Julian & Fiona Mitchell. 2001. “Better for Everyone? Travel Experiences and Transport Exclusion.” Urban Studies 38 (2): 319-32.
Holst-Warhaft, Gail. 2002. “Politics and Popular Music in Modern Greece.” Journal of Political & Military Sociology 30 (2): 297-323.
Huspek, Michael. 1994. “Critical Ethnography and Subjective Experience.” Human Studies 17 (1): 45-63.
Kallimopoúlou, Elléni. 2009. Paradosiakά: Music, Meaning and Identity in Modern Greece. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Kallimopoulou Eleni & Panagiotis C. Poulos. 2017. “Laïkó.” In Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World XI, eds. Paolo Prato and David Horn, 448-454,.
Review, Territorial Review of Greece: Regional Policy for Greece Post-2020. 2020. Athens: Regional Profiles, OECD Territorial Reviews, OECD.
Lagiou, Pagona & Dimitrios Trichopoulos. 2011. The Greek Tobacco Epidemic. Athens: Faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health, The Hellenic Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity, The Hellenic Ministry of Education, Life-time
Learning, and Religious Affairs and The Hellenic Anti-Cancer Society. Mahmoud, Zaid & Martin Růžek. 2020. “Effects of Music on Driver Behavior.” WSEAS Transactions on Acoustics and Music 7: 12-21.
Mahon, Maureen. 2014. “Music, Power, and Practice.” Ethnomusicology 58 (2): 327-33.
Mariner i Cortés, Marc. 2019. “Musical travelling: Mediated music listening on public transport.” Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology 2: 83-101.
Merriman, Peter. 2004. “Driving Places: Marc Augé, Non-places, and the Geographies of England’s M1 Motorway.” Theory, Culture & Society 21 (4/5): 145-167.
Mitchell, Rebecca. 2016. “Introduction: Music and Power.” The Journal of Musicology 33 (3): 271-76.
Mozgot, Valery G. 2014. “The Musical Taste of Young People.” Russian Education & Society 56: 22-36.
Murolo, Norberto Leonardo. 2015. “Listening music on the public transport – About uses of mobile phone by young people.” Intercom – RBCC 38 (2): 81-97.
Mulder, Johannes. 2016. “Average Is the New Loudest.” Leonardo Music Journal 26: 56-59.
Nimorakiotaki, Despoina & Evangelos Sambracos. 2020. “Demand on Public Transportation during the Economic Crisis: The Greek Case.” European Research Studies Journal XXIII: 282-297.
Paravantis, John & P. D. Prevedouros. 2001. “Railroads in Greece: History,
Characteristics, and Forecasts.” Transportation Research Record 1742: 34-44.
Rosenthal, Donell. 2021. Montana School Bus Standards and Recourse Materials. Montana: Office of Public Instruction.
Tasmania, Passenger conduct code for schools bus services. 2022. Tasmania: Department of State Growth, Tasmanian Government, State of Tasmania.
Tsioulakis, Ioannis. 2019. “No more Babes on the Dance-Stage: The Changing Modes of Spectatorship in Athenian Live Music Nightclubs”. In Made in Greece: Studies in Popular Music, ed. Dafni Tragaki, 41–51 New York: Routledge.
Tsounis, Demeter. 1995. “Kefi and Meraki in Rebetika Music of Adelaide: Cultural Constructions of Passion and Expression and Their Link with the Homeland.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 27: 90-103.
Wiesenthal, David, Dwight Hennessy & Brad Totten. 2000. “The Influence of Music on Driver Stress.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 30: 1709-1719.
Ye, Shi, Qun Chen & Yi Tang. 2023. “Anger between bus drivers and passengers or among passengers: Development of a bus passenger anger scale (BPAS) and a bus driver anger scale (BDAS).” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 167: Article 103563 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S0965856422003147 (Accessed January 10, 2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106623.
Zhang, Na, Peixia Cheng, Peishan Ning, David C Schwebel & Guoqing Hu. 2022.
“Conflicts between bus drivers and passengers in Changsha, China.” Accident Analysis & Prevention 169: Article 106623https://www.sciencedirect.com/ science/article/pii/S0001457522000598 (Accessed January 10, 2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106623.
Published
30.09.2023.
How to Cite
PLEMMENOS, John.
Committed Travelers, Reluctant Listeners: Playing Music and Displaying Authority on Public Transport in Modern-Day Greece.
Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnography SASA, [S.l.], v. 71, n. 2, p. 113–135, sep. 2023.
ISSN 2334-8259.
Available at: <https://www.ei.sanu.ac.rs/index.php/gei/article/view/1084>. Date accessed: 19 may 2024.
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