In separate interviews, Nicholas Hammond speaks on his study of ancient Macedonian culture, while Joan Vincent discusses the culture of County Fermanagh in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ireland.
Hammond discusses Macedonian society in the time of Alexander the Great and factors that led to Macedonia being the leading world power for 200 years. Hammond’s geographical and cultural understanding of the region comes from having lived among Greek peasants before World War II, when he fought alongside them as a guerrilla against the Axis Powers. Using literary and archaeological evidence, Hammond draws a picture of Macedonian society and institutions built on an agrarian pastoral foundation.
In the second segment [14:18], Vincent looks, from the viewpoint of cultural anthropology, at the sectarian challenges facing the inhabitants of four villages of County Fermanagh, Ireland. The villages represent a wide diversity of culture, religion, and income. Midway between Dublin and Belfast, the people are subject to both northern (Protestant) and southern (Catholic) influences. She says that both sides have constructed distinct histories and traditions based on their allegiances rather than actual history.
At the time of the interview, Hammond, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1985-86), was professor of history at Cambridge University.
Vincent, a Fellow at the Center (1986-87), was professor of anthropology at Barnard College.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
