Limassol Carnival Serenades: an approach to sustaining sound communities, safeguarding and cultural sustainability

The Limassol Carnival has been listed by the National Commission for UNESCO of Cyprus as an Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2015. It is the only known Carnival that includes the Serenaders, male choirs, within its celebrations. Originating in the Ionian islands, a Serenade is a harmonised love poem, traditionally sung by men in a waltz rhythm, at a marching or upbeat tempo. Its instrumentation consists of accordions, guitars, and mandolins. Despite their origins as love songs, the Limassol Carnival Serenades serve different purposes and meanings. Through their melodies and lyrics, the cultural practice glorifies the Limassol Carnival, indulgence, and dancing. The Limassol Carnival Serenades are on the brink of extinction, primarily due to rapid social development and changing social dynamics. The plunging interest of younger generations, in combination with the rise of modern forms of entertainment, has significantly contributed to the decline. This situation undeniably illustrates the challenges in preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage and oral traditions like the Limassol Carnival Serenades. In this thesis, I delve into the cultural significance and identity of the Limassol Carnival Serenades within the broader context of traditional Cypriot music. I conduct extensive Interviews with key figures in the Serenading tradition to understand its position and explore how it can be sustained and safeguarded. This investigation is contextualised within research on other Cypriot traditional practices and the broader sociocultural stability of the country. Moreover, I base my research on studies on tradition, folklore, identity, and nostalgia, as well as on theories of invented traditions, cultural sustainability and safeguarding to identify and distinguish critical aspects of and challenges to cultural practice. This allows me to discuss the predicament of the tradition and the influences that affected its identification within the traditional music scene of Cyprus. The chapters are presented in a chain argument progression, beginning with a historical assessment of the Limassol Carnival Serenade. This is followed by an analysis of the notions of nostalgia and invented traditions, each as related to the case study. I then explore models of identity and position in order to better understand the cultural identity of the Limassol Carnival Serenade. Finally, in relation to the sociocultural stability that prevails in the country, I aim to discover the most appropriate means of sustaining and safeguarding this tradition and in which ways those approaches can potentially be applied.

Grantor dc:publisher

University College Cork

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Charalambous, Chara

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Stock, Jonathan
• Khalil, Alexander

• Carnival
• Carnival music
• Cultural sustainability
• Cyprus
• Nostalgia
• Folklore
• Traditional music
• Cultural identity
• Sound communities

Statement dc:rights

• © 2025, Chara Charalambous.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10468/18897

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cora.ucc.ie:10468/18897