This book narrates the story of the creation of a vibrant carnival culture in modern Athens, while also addressing the domestication of carnival in the contemporary world.
During the period under consideration, the Carnival underwent radical changes, both under the hegemony of the modernist faction of the bourgeoisie and through more abstract processes such as commercialization, the disenchantment of the world, and the "civilizing process." The "roaming joy" subsided, the "spectacles of rudeness" were limited, the meanings beyond entertainment that existed in carnival practices disappeared, and these transformed into urban spectacles.
Nevertheless, the Carnival maintained a distinct character, as a time of revelry and liberation. The history of Athenian Carnival from the Ottoman period to the interwar years includes the introduction of European carnival culture, the spread of disguise, the emergence of women in public space, the rise and decline of carnival satire, and the shift towards entertainment venues.
It is a story filled with contrasts: folk and urban culture, European models and traditional customs, impulses and culture, nostalgia and progress, the street carnival and the entertainments of the halls; a story in which itinerant fruit vendors and bankers, failed actors and ladies of high society, kings and journalists play leading roles.
