Sarakatsans

The Sarakatsans ( Greek Σαρακατσάνοι Sarakatsáni ) or Karakatschans ( Bulgarian каракачани Karakatschani ), more rarely also Sarakatschans , are a small Greek-speaking population group in northern Greece and neighboring areas of Bulgaria and North Macedonia .

The Sarakatsans are a Greek ethnic group. They live mainly in the Pindus Mountains in Greece and the eastern Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. In the past they were transhumant nomads who were engaged in sheep farming. The Sarakatsans, who belong to the Orthodox Church, still see themselves today as an independent Greek ethnic group with their own dialect.

Surname

The origin of the name is unclear. Georgios Babiniotis gives two possibilities; from Turkish karakaçan or from Aromanian sarac meaning φτωχος 'poor' and the family name suffix tsani . According to another theory, the name comes from the village of Sakaretsi, which is considered to be the home of the Sarakatsans.

History and origin

According to a popular theory, which is based on linguistics and material culture, the Sarakatsans descend from the Dorians, some authors see them as Greek aromas. The dialect of the Sarakatsans is classified as one of the oldest Greek dialects, which is derived directly from the language of the Dorians, who populated the regions of modern Greece in ancient times.

Culture

The Sarakatsans speak a modern northern Greek dialect that contains a multitude of ancient archaic elements that did not flow into modern Greek . Their diverse folk art includes songs, dance, poetry, ancient Greek elements in sculpture and their traditional costumes.

religion

The Sarakatsans are Greek Orthodox Christians.

Demographics

The Sarakatsans lived in northern regions of Greece until the 20th century, and they regularly moved to neighboring countries such as Albania , southern Yugoslavia and Bulgaria in the summer months . After the national borders were closed in the 1940s, a minority of the Sarakatsans remained outside Greece. Currently, the majority live in Greece, some of them live in Bulgaria, in the south of North Macedonia , while no sources are available for Albania.

literature

John Campbell: The Sarakatsani and the klephtic tradition. In: Richard Clogg (Ed.): Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society. C. Hurst & Co., London 2002, ISBN 978-1-850-65706-4 , pp. 165-178, online
Carsten Høeg : Les Saracatsans. Two volumes. Pio, Copenhagen 1925–1926.
Georgios Kavvadias: Nomadic shepherds of the Mediterranean: The Sarakatsani of Greece . Gauthier-Villars, Paris 1965.

Web links

Commons : Sarakatsani - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Website of the Federation of Karakachan Associations in Bulgaria ( Bulgarian / Greek / English)

Sarakatsani Folklore Museum

The Sarakatsan of Epirus in Athens

The Sarakatsan Organization of Evros Prefecture

The Sarakatsan Association of Drama Prefecture

Individual evidence

^ John K. Campbell: Honor, family, and patronage: A study of institutions and moral values in a Greek mountain community . Clarendon Press , Oxford 1964, ISBN 978-0-195-19756-3 . : "... the Sarakatsani, as they exist today, provide no evidence of a past history that was ever anything but Greek."
^ ^A ^b David Levinson: Greece . In: Ethnic groups worldwide . Greenwood Publishing Group , 1998, ISBN 978-1-573-56019-1 , p. 41 .: "... the Sarakatsani are ethnically Greek, speak Greek, and are Greek Orthodox."
↑ Georgios Babiniotis: Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας. Lexicon of the Modern Greek Language. 2nd Edition. Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, Athens 2002, ISBN 960-86190-1-7 , p. 1570. (Greek)
↑ Panagiotis Aravantinos: Μονογραφία περί Κουτσόβλαχων. Monograph on the Koutsovlachs. Verlag Spyridon Kousoulinos, Athens 1865, "Σαρακατσιάνοι ή Σακαρετσάνοι έχοντες την καταγωγή εκ Σακαρέτσιου ..." (Greek)
^ Camille Cusumano: Greece, a Love Story . Seal Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-786-75058-0 , p. 72: "Legend tells us that the Sarakatsani, isolated for centuries in the mountains, are descended from the original Dorian Greeks."
↑ Theodor Capidan: Sărăcăcianii. Studiu asupra unei populaţiuni româneşti grecizate . In: Dacoromania . tape 4/2 (1924/26) , pp. 923-959 .
↑ Katerina Kakouri: Death and resurrection . GC Elefteroudakis, 1965, p. 16: "Certain investigators fit them in with the archaic nomadic descent of the very ancient Dorians."
↑ Nikos Katsaros: Οι αρχαιοελληνικές ρίζες του Σαρακατσάνικου λόγου. Ancient Greek roots of the Sarakatsanika tongue. Publisher I.Sideris, Athens 1995 (Greek)
^ Thede Kahl: Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Macedonia. In: Gabriella Schubert (Ed.): Macedonia. Imprints and perspectives . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05277-5 , p. 67.

[1] John K. Campbell: Honor, family, and patronage: A study of institutions and moral values in a Greek mountain community . Clarendon Press , Oxford 1964, ISBN 978-0-195-19756-3 . : "... the Sarakatsani, as they exist today, provide no evidence of a past history that was ever anything but Greek."

[Levinson1998-2] A ^b David Levinson: Greece . In: Ethnic groups worldwide . Greenwood Publishing Group , 1998, ISBN 978-1-573-56019-1 , p. 41 .: "... the Sarakatsani are ethnically Greek, speak Greek, and are Greek Orthodox."

[3] Georgios Babiniotis: Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας. Lexicon of the Modern Greek Language. 2nd Edition. Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, Athens 2002, ISBN 960-86190-1-7 , p. 1570. (Greek)

[4] Panagiotis Aravantinos: Μονογραφία περί Κουτσόβλαχων. Monograph on the Koutsovlachs. Verlag Spyridon Kousoulinos, Athens 1865, "Σαρακατσιάνοι ή Σακαρετσάνοι έχοντες την καταγωγή εκ Σακαρέτσιου ..." (Greek)

[5] Camille Cusumano: Greece, a Love Story . Seal Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-786-75058-0 , p. 72: "Legend tells us that the Sarakatsani, isolated for centuries in the mountains, are descended from the original Dorian Greeks."

[6] Theodor Capidan: Sărăcăcianii. Studiu asupra unei populaţiuni româneşti grecizate . In: Dacoromania . tape 4/2 (1924/26) , pp. 923-959 .

[7] Katerina Kakouri: Death and resurrection . GC Elefteroudakis, 1965, p. 16: "Certain investigators fit them in with the archaic nomadic descent of the very ancient Dorians."

[8] Nikos Katsaros: Οι αρχαιοελληνικές ρίζες του Σαρακατσάνικου λόγου. Ancient Greek roots of the Sarakatsanika tongue. Publisher I.Sideris, Athens 1995 (Greek)

[9] Thede Kahl: Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Macedonia. In: Gabriella Schubert (Ed.): Macedonia. Imprints and perspectives . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05277-5 , p. 67.