Granted, tho Greece had been independent for a century. I think it may have
more to do with the pervasive prejudices in the States at the time. Laws
had been changed to end immigration from southern and eastern Europe two
years before, after three decades of massive influx. There's a large body
of artistic and literary ethnic slurs, in which the targets' are made to
appear as different from "us" as possible.
At 02:08 AM 1/17/2005, you wrote:
>Hi Mark,
>
>Until the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 (note date of song's composition), the
>boundaries of the Ottoman Empire were always a bit blurry. A Greek friend
>of my
>acquaintance says she tries never to get into discussions about the Ottoman
>Empire with other Greeks and is quite happy to sell Turkish Delight in her
>cafe
>(after I had suggested that perhaps it should be Greek Delight). They do a
>nice
>banana bread as well. And Greek coffee.
>
>Cheers,
>Jill
>
> > Very much my experience. A bit like being a method actor.
> >
> > By odd coincidence, I have a copy of the original sheet music for "Yes, We
> > Have No Bananas," It was still current in my childhood. Teh artwork on the
> > sheet music reflects a lot of ethnic confusion. The song's main character
> > is identified as Greek, but the guy pictured is in archaic Turkish costume.
> > Here are the lyrics.
> >
> >
> > Folk Song written By: Frank Silver and Irving Cohn (1923)
> >
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