The Migration Experience as a Journey: a Personal Tale and Collective Reflection

Event Details

For many the experience of migration is often related to a journey. It is not simply about crossing geographical borders. Immigrants experience the transition from the mother tongue to another, and the transition from one social reality to another, which are often dramatically different. These journey routes and the enormous challenges they present penetrate deeply into the psyche and in general the life of immigrants. For this reason, we have the desire to often tell our own story of immigration, to convey what we went through and how it marked us.

In this presentation, Yiorgos Anagnostou aims to do just that - he intends to share with the audience his personal journey of immigration to the United States of America, recounting the challenges he encountered along the way and how these experiences have moulded him. Additionally, he will recite poems that are related to his immigration journey.

Yiorgos Anagnostou has chosen to focus on these personal aspects for two primary reasons. First and foremost, he seeks to introduce himself in a meaningful manner, emphasizing his identity as an immigrant and a university student. Secondly, he aspires to foster a community of open dialogue and the exchange of diverse perspectives. Moreover, he believes that this approach allows us to gain a multifaceted understanding of an issue that not only impacts us individually but also resonates within our families and communities.

BIO

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, Ethnicities, Italian American Review, Journal of American Folklore, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Journal of Modern Hellenism, Modern Greek Studies (Australia & New Zealand), Journal of Greek Media and Culture, The Classical Bulletin, as well as several chapters in edited volumes. He has also explored the experience of migration and diaspora in two poetry collections.

Professor Anagnostou 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 also co-editor of Redirecting Ethnic Singularity: Italian Americans and Greek Americans in Conversation (Fordham University Press, 2022), which received the 2022 Modern Greek Studies Association (MGSA) “Vasiliki Karagiannaki Best Edited Book Prize in Modern Greek Studies.” Since 2017 he is the editor of the online journal Ergon: Greek/American and Diaspora Arts and Letters, which features Greek American scholarship, poetry, and essays (http://ergon.scienzine.com/). He writes regularly for the Greek and Greek American media.

The presentation will be conducted in the Greek language.

Event details:
Sunday 8 October | 3pm
The Greek Centre | Mezzanine 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

ABOUT THE GREEK COMMUNITY OF MELBOURNE

The Greek Community of Melbourne is a community organisation founded in 1897. It represents the large and vibrant Greek community in Victoria presenting Education programs to over 2000 students, Cultural programs that include the landmark Antipodes