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From poem and song to cultural diplomacy: challenges and opportunities for place branding and tourism promotion

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Abstract

The concept of place branding in this paper is examined in respect to place identity. More specifically, it is argued that poems and songs are cultural elements of place identity that can help in the place branding process. Poetry and especially that set to music offers a powerful cross-platform that enables communication among people, creating common understanding and bridging linguistic and cultural differences. Greece has reached a juncture where the sun and sea model, on which it had based its tourist campaign in the past, is not sufficient anymore. Thus, it must face the options of altering its current product. Towards this direction, the present paper focuses on poetry, lyrics, and song as viable alternatives that can help reformulate the country’s projected identity and image. Representative examples of Greek poetry in general and of Greek poetry set to music in particular are analyzed and examined in this vein.

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Fig. 1

Source: Pedeliento and Kavaratzis (2019, Fig. 3)

Fig. 2

Source: Hatch and Schultz (2002, Figs. 1 and 3)

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Notes

  1. See e.g., “A unique and slightly mad effort': mapping Britain in poetry,” The Guardian, 18.7.2019. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/18/a-unique-and-slightly-mad-effort-mapping-the-uk-in-poetry (Retrieved July 19, 2019).

  2. See e.g., “Athens is talking to you: Verses from Cavafy cross the city on buses and the metro and have something important to say” [in Greek], iefimerida.gr, 15.10.2013.

  3. See e.g., “Poem… houses in Volax”, available at https://www.ert.gr/radiotileorasi/politismos-radiotileorasi/technes-radiotileorasi/spitia-piimata/ (Retrieved June 22, 2020).

  4. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1963/seferis/lecture/ (Retrieved October 15, 2018).

  5. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1963/ceremony-speech/ (Retrieved October 15, 2018).

  6. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1963/seferis/speech/ (Retrieved October 15, 2018).

  7. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1979/elytis/lecture/ (Retrieved October 15, 2018).

  8. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1979/ceremony-speech (Retrieved October 15, 2018).

  9. See e.g., “4th International Poetry Festival—Athens 2018.” Available at: https://www.greeknewsagenda.gr/index.php/topics/culture-society/6844-4th-international-poetry-festival

  10. See e.g., https://voidnetwork.gr/2018/08/19/7th-international-video-poetry-festivall (Retrieved on June 15, 2019).

  11. See https://www.onassis.org/open-calls/open-call-international-cavafy-summer-school-2019 (Retrieved June 20, 2019).

  12. See https://www.tinoslitfestival.com (Retrieved June 15, 2019).

  13. See e.g., “2nd International Poetry Festival, Patras—Mediterranean 2019.” Available at: https://www.culturenow.gr/2o-diethnes-festival-poiisis-patras-mediterranean-2019/ (Retrieved June 19, 2019).

  14. See https://www.youngpoets.eu/en/.

  15. Namely, Siotis (2014), Hirschman and Siotis (2015), Chiotis (2015), van Dyck (2016), Aligizakis (2018).

  16. See https://www.pen-international.org/who-we-are/history.

  17. Dogs–Gangnam Style (2012). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0 (Retrieved June 30, 2019).

  18. YouTube (2017). Armand D'Angour: Rediscovering Ancient Greek Music. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hOK7bU0S1Y (Retrieved June 18, 2019).

  19. FIEC (2019). The International Federation of Associations of Classical Studies. Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11btFgcdJTTA6oDwVz7sMn6v-26jYtjib/view (Retrieved July 7, 2019).

  20. Melina Mercouri (Maria Amalia-Mercouri, 1920–1994) was a Greek actress, singer, and politician. She received an Oscar nomination and won a Cannes Film Festival Award for her performance in the 1960 film “Never on Sunday.” Mercouri was also nominated for three Golden Globes and two BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards in her acting career. In October 1981, Mercouri became the first female Minister of Culture and Sports (1981–1989 and 1993–1994). One of her greatest achievements was the establishment of the institution of the European Capital of Culture within the framework of cultural policy of the European Union that she had perceived and proposed in 1983, with Athens inaugurating this institution and being the first title-holder in 1985.

  21. English: An orchestral version recorded by Don Costa reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. Following this success as well as the Oscar win, an English language version of the song was commissioned to be written by many singers (Billy Towne, the Chordettes, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Andy Williams, James Last, and others). Italian (Dalida, Milva, Nilla Pizzi), French (Dalida, Melina Mercouri, Darío Moreno), Spanish (Dalida, Xiomara Alfaro), German (Lale Andersen, Nana Mouskouri, Helmuth Brandenburg), Dutch, Yiddish, Polish, Czech, Serbian, Slovenian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Hindi.

  22. For example, in the advertising spot of the world-famous beer “Stella Artois” with the theme of the song sung by Melina Mercouri acting as “Stella” in the amazing scene of the film (see Worth The Effort—She is a Thing of Beauty Advert | Stella Artois UK. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6_h0HUSZ_Y, Retrieved June 5, 2019); or even The Muppet Show with Miss Piggy (see Miss Piggy—Never on Sunday. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2_uYBhcG00, Retrieved June 10, 2019).

  23. After the coup that overthrew the Greek government in 1967, Seferis went into voluntary seclusion and many of his poems were banned, including the musical versions which Mikis Theodorakis had written and arranged.

  24. Mikis Theodorakis in East Berlin 1987: Sto Perigiali (“Denial”). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9IqV5SazpU (Retrieved June 5, 2019).

  25. Recording from Seferis’s funeral in 1971. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANtbngw7TkA (Retrieved June 5, 2019).

  26. Mboskitis (2015).

  27. According to Samaras (2016), the image of a country has four elements: a cognitive element (what exactly we know about the country), an emotional element (what are our feelings about the country), an evaluation element (how we evaluate the country), and a behavioral element (our behavior towards it).

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  1. Christina Linardaki

    Present address: , 5 Trapezountos Str, 17237, Athens, Greece

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  1. Advanced Media Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Christina Linardaki & Anastasia Aslanides

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  1. Christina Linardaki
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Linardaki, C., Aslanides, A. From poem and song to cultural diplomacy: challenges and opportunities for place branding and tourism promotion. Place Brand Public Dipl 16, 304–315 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-020-00176-1

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