Diaspora’s Cultural Future: Greek America, Public Memory, Making Identity
with Prof Yiorgos Anagnostou
Event Details
A diaspora’s concern about its future is an integral part of any diaspora experience. As generations keep moving away from the immigrant culture in ever-changing contexts, the question arises––often urgently––about cultural continuation and the meanings of the new identifications among young people. This, in turn, leads to narratives seeking to shape the future and corresponding initiatives undertaking this project.
In this presentation we will explore this dynamic in reference to Greek America. We will closely analyze how Greek Americans envision the future by evoking the past in a variety of self-representations. We will study this cultural landscape by looking closely at memoirs, short stories, documentaries, and community identity narratives.
The making of diaspora public memory involves multiple versions of remembering and therefore a variety of visions for the future. In the talk, I will chart the various ways public memory constructs the meanings of Greek American collective identity for the 21st century and reflect on the implications of each proposed vision.
About Prof Yiorgos Anagnostou
Yiorgos Anagnostou is the Miltiadis Marinakis Professor of Modern Greek language and culture at The Ohio State University. His research interests include diaspora and American ethnic studies, with a focus on Greek America. His published research covers a broad range of subjects, including film, documentary, ethnography, folklore, literature, history, sociology, and public humanities. His work has appeared in Melus, Diaspora, Italian American Review, Journal of American Folklore, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Modern Greek Studies (Australia & New Zealand), Journal of Greek Media and Culture, and several edited volumes. He is the author of Contours of White Ethnicity: Popular Ethnography and the Making of Usable Pasts in Greek America (Ohio University Press, 2009; Greek translation from Nisos, 2021). He is a co-editor of Redirecting Ethnic Singularity: Italian Americans and Greek Americans in Conversation (Fordham University Press, 2022). Since 2017 he is the editor of the online journal Ergon: Greek/American Arts and Letters (http://ergon.scienzine.com/).
About Greek History and Culture Seminars 2022
This event belongs to the series, Greek History and Culture Seminars 2022.
The Greek Community of Melbourne hosts a wide range of events, from intimate gatherings to large functions, and celebrates cultural diversity with vibrant festivals, performances, and exhibitions.
See all Greek History and Culture Seminars 2022 published events.
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