meaning and morality: a semiotic approach to evil eye accusations in a Greek village

Abstract

Anthropological approaches to the evil eye have suffered from the analytical inadequacy of the evil eye construct itself. Utilizing material from a Greek (Rhodian) village, this article seeks a wider frame of reference in which evil eye accusations are treated as expressions of a moral‐value system and in which that system is shown to articulate concepts of fate and character with the criteria for inclusion in the village society. The primary focus is thus semiotic; it is an attempt to show how villagers interpret personal habits and characteristics, including the possession of an allegedly dangerous eye, as signs of the individual's failure to satisfy those membership criteria adequately. O..