Zamanfou
Zamanfou, also known as Zaman-Fu, as well as "ohaderfismos" Greek "Ωχαδερφισμός" ("oh-brotherism"), or "starhidismos" Greek "σταρχιδισμός" (off.), is a counterculture phenomenon in Greece, used to express indifference. It is the Greek equivalent of Timothy Leary's "Turn on, tune in, drop out" of the 1960s.
The term is derived from the French phrase "je m'en fous" (foutre), which can be translated as "I don't care/I don't give a damn/I couldn't care less". The main idea behind this phenomenon is the perseverance and prioritization of the benefits for oneself. Someone who subscribes to this phenomenon is a Zamanfoutistas, Starhidistis, or Ohadelfistis.
Older Greek people would say that examples of this phenomenon were generally individuals between the ages of 16-25, but others can claim that (at least by 2006), many representatives of this lifestyle are well beyond this age bracket.
Background
The French expression Je m'en fous, probably became known by the Greeks even before World War II, when the French language was the most common foreign language in Greece. It was later adopted into everyday vocabulary, with Greek spelling and pronunciation. As with many slang words, the date of birth will be disputed forever, but the most common form in the older generation was in the expressions "Zamanfou ki apano tourla" and "Zamanfou kai tria karta". But mainly represents the "αμπελοσοφισμό" of neo-Greeks.
As a popular mentality, it can be considered post-modern. And as with many post-modern forms, there is a difficulty in definition and controversy is in its nature. The easiest way of defining it, is as an antithesis, ie a reaction to a common belief. So zamanfou is mainly an individualistic reaction to the “common good” as it is expressed by the “ruling majority”. It certainly has an existential tone and can be included in the broad existential umbrella. The individualism of zamanfou is mostly passive -that you don’t care- rather than active -like in greed is good. Without trying to resort to moral philosophy, this passive attitude also expresses indifference, sometimes only to the society as a whole, but sometimes even to the more personal circle of social behavior.
The idea that brought Zamanfou about had a Zen flavour while it's also compared to the ideology of cynicism: if something bothers you and you cannot do anything about it, there is no point of stressing over it, so instead, you should just ignore it. Forget your stress and consciously disregard the shoddy state of Greek society, and try to have a good time with what you have. After all, that is exactly the meaning of real life: Have the nicest day that you can, overcoming your problems with a good mood. Make lemonade with your lemons, but keep the lemonade entirely for yourself.
This individualism resulted in many different stances and attitudes, depending also on economic and cultural provenance, education level, political beliefs, and age of their actors. Lack of consideration, civil disobedience, tax evasion, "hit-and-run" social and personal behaviour and mentality, dodging the draft, vandalism and property destruction, total disregard for most of the common law, "screw the rest of the world" mentality have been common expressions of this phenomenon. It was and continues to be thought of as a form of insubordination against the State and the Greek status quo, both on a conscious and an unconscious level.
Expressions
Greeks, whenever they occasionally are forced to subscribe to this ideology, use a characteristic phrase: "Write everything on your testicles", which is the literal translation from Greek. Another expression is also used "Ston poutso mou" which has the same meaning as the above phrase.
Other interesting relevant Greek phrases are "ston poutso mou" ("on my penis") or "στ'αρχίδια μου" ("on my testicles"). In case you don't want to use curse words, you can convert the original phrase to "στα τέτοια μου", implying your testicles. In chatrooms, there are some characters that express the above, helping avoid using the actual curse words. For example the testicles are abbreviated as @@ ("στα @@ μου" instead of "στ' αρχίδια μου ή στα παπάρια μου"). There is the "\/" string that describes a hand gesture (see below). Inside the Greek culture, figuratively writing someone at your testicles was and is supposed to be a gesture of utter contempt for the person you are referring to. Additionally, in order to express indifference towards someone's concern, the phrase "mí mou zalízeis t'archídia" ("don't drive my testicles dizzy") is used, similar to the Spanish "No me toques los cojones".
Hand gestures
Zamanfou is not just a mentality ; Greeks use lots of physical movement and body language to complement their speech. One can use a characteristic hand movement to accompany the exclamation of one being in indifference: The hand movement is done by driving the hand toward the genitalia. The exact way this is done depends on the mood of the practitioner and to whom they are addressing. This is also a part of Zamanfou. Most of the times these gestures are followed by an exclamation of satisfaction or contempt by saying "naaaaa" (meaning "Heeeere").
Loufa
Within the Hellenic Armed Forces a form of zamanfou has developed, called loufa (loafing), trying to get away with doing as little work as possible. Loufa is practiced covertly by conscripts who may be held accountable for their actions, in contrast to zamanfou, which is practiced openly in environments where there is no accountability. Most Greek males currently spend 9 to 12 months as conscripts.
As the conscripts are under-utilised in menial jobs, they quickly learn the ways of loufa, since the Greek army offers no incentives for doing a good job. Parallels could be drawn between the Greek notion of loufa in the army, and Passive-aggressive behavior that was described in the US Army in the 40s.
See also
Sources
- Apology of an Anti-Greek (Απολογία ενός Ανθέλληνα). of Nikos Dimou (Νίκος Δήμου),
- Without the Greeks (Ερήμην των Ελλήνων). of I. M. Panagiotopoulos (Ι. Μ. Παναγιωτόπουλος),
External links
- Italian vs. European - Italian flash animation showing a Zamanfou aspect of Italians (by Bruno Bozzetto)
- Je m' en fous - ΖΑ ΜΑΝ ΦΟΥ Satire site (Greek only).
- How to be Greek - Humor site
