Open access
ZORBA THE GREEK - A SCORE FOR LIFE-MEDIA-CULTURE A FILM BY MICHAEL CACONYANNIS IN OLD AND NEW CULTURAL CONTEXTS
Karina BANASZKIEWICZ1
Transformations of Culture
Publication language: Polish
Journal article
Transformations No. 1-2 (80-81) 2014, Publication date: 23 May 2014
Abstract Globalized societies constantly need heroes and stories that would be able to explain the meaning of the world. When religions of fathers lose their position, their place is taken by myths of the popular culture: Star Wars, Matrix, Pokemons, Indiana Jones' crusades – they all integrate multinational societies. Media have created cosmic heroes and ingenious adventurers to our expectations. Contemporary adventure narrations are being told by comics, movies, TV, internet, computer games, and their believers transfer them into the real world: they role-play scenes from the Matrix on the main Tokyo square. And although it's no wonder that heroes with supernatural powers are very popular, it strikes us that equally popular are stories about the brave Heidi from the Alps or about the famous Zorba the Greek. Numerous adaptations and sequels of the Nikos Kazantzakis' novel, realized in other medias' language, create the Zorba's myth. This myth became alive and it is being repeated also because of the Zorba's tavern on Crete, Zorba's dance which has been created just for the purpose of the film, and which has been acknowledged by the world as a symbol of Greece, or the Zorba's adage: „what a beautiful disaster!”. An invented personality remains the text of a particular culture, but also a carrier of universal values. To explain the Zorba phenomenon we need an interpretation encompassing both the media and reaching beyond into the context of the Greek culture. That's the reading I propose to you...
Instytut Nauk o Kulturze i Studiów Interdyscyplinarnych Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach
E-mail: karina.tv@gazeta.pl