Language and memory: the development of Greek folklore in the inter-war period

The Greek intellectuals' pursuit of a personal identity and the definition of Greekness renewed interest in the Greek folk tradition and rekindled concern for the collection and preservation of folklore material. It was in this period that Stilponas Kyriakidis produced the bulk of his work including most of his theoretical texts introducing the latest views on the science of folklore and various ways of considering modern Greek culture. During the same period, Angeliki Chatzimichali began her activities, collecting material from the Greek countryside. In 1925 she published her first work entitled Elliniki Laiki Techni - Skyros, and later participated in the Delphic Festival, organizing the Panhellenic Exhibition of Greek Folk Art in co-operation, amongst others,
Athina Tarsouli and Yannis Tsarouchis. Finally, from 1929 onwards, Melpo Merlier was engaged in the task of collecting and recording demotic and ecclesiastical music. Her interest focused on songs originating from all regions of the Hellenic world, especially the recently liberated countries of northern Greece and the refugees of Asia Minor. She later established the Music Foklore Archive (1935), which under her direction continued the task of cataloguing demotic songs, and became co-founder, with her husband Octave Merlier, of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies (1930).