Η μαγκιά ως ρευστός κώδικας περιθωριακής αρρενωπότητας: αυτοβιογραφία, ομοκοινωνικότητα και ρεμπέτικος ανδρισμός στον Πειραιά του 20ου αιώνα

Abstract

The article examines the construction of rebetiko masculinity through four autobiographical narratives by rebetiko musicians associated with Piraeus and the rebetiko world of the twentieth century: Markos Vamvakaris, Giannis Papaioannou, Giorgos Mitsakis, and Michalis Genitsaris. Focusing on magkia as a fluid evaluative code, it explores how the relationship to the social margins becomes an object of autobiographical elaboration and gendered self-presentation, rather than seeking to determine whether rebetiko musicians were in fact members of the “underworld.” Magkia is approached as a mode of assessing masculine worth that links honour and endurance with reputation, musical ability, and recognition by other men. In these narratives, marginality is variously disavowed, idealised, or transformed into evidence of masculine worth. The rebetiko margin thus functions both as a social position and as a narrative locus from which the narrators restore and assert their masculinity.