The Culture and Politics of the Diaspora Conference

held at, the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
23-27 February 1998


In 1988, The Centre for European Studies organised a cross-disciplinary conference on The Culture and Politics of the Diaspora at the Vallentine Annexe conference centre* at UNSW, in association with the Centre for Intercultural Jewish Studies, Sydney, the Australian Association for Jewish Studies, and Modern Greek Studies at the University of New South Wales.

The conference consisted of two consecutive sections:

The first, from 9 a.m. Monday 23 February till 12.30 p.m. Wednesday 25 February, focused on the GREEK experience;
the second, from 1.30 p.m.Wednesday 25 February to 4.30 p.m. Friday 27 February, on JEWISH existence in Europe, Australia and North America.

Although the sections shared a common theme, the relationship of Greek and Jewish diaspora existence both to the "host" societies and to the idea or the reality of a historical homeland lost and found, they were planned as self-contained "seminar-conferences", and participants could choose to attend either or both.

Wednesday 25 February was a "crossover day"; the program included a number of papers relevant to both sections, and all particpants were invited to attend sessions of the other section on this day.

The conference language was English.

What follows below is the program for the Greek section, and I include it at kythera-island.net to provide insights into who some of the major researchers are in Greek-Australian history, what their fields of interests are, and how they might be contacted, if required.

PROGRAM

GREEK SECTION

Monday 23rd February, 1998

8.30
Registration

9.00
Official Opening
Professor John Niland, Vice-Chancellor, UNSW

9.30
Opening Address
Richard Clogg (St Antony's College, Oxford)

Defining the Diaspora: The Case of the Greeks

10.30-10.45
coffee

10.45-12.30
Greeks, the Diaspora and History

Anastasios Tamis (La Trobe)
From Migrants to Citizens: The Case of Greeks in Australia

Christos Fifis (La Trobe)
The Pre-War Greek Community of Australia: Landmarks and Issues

Nick Pappas (Sydney)
Greek Musicians in the USA: 1917-1937

12.30-1.30
lunch

1.30-3.15
Migration and Identity in a Post-Modern World

Gillian Bottomley (Macquarie)
Negotiating Cultural Difference: Migrations, Identities and Myths of Purity

Mary Kalantzis (RMIT)
Belongings

3.15-3.30
coffee

3.30-5.15
Political Dimensions of the Greek Diaspora

Pavlos Andronikos (Monash)
The Presentation of the Cyprus Problem in the Anglophone Press

Costas Vertzayas (Sydney)
Is there a Greek Lobby in Australia, the USA and worldwide?

Mimis Sophocleous (RMIT)
The Greek Diaspora in a Changing World: Issues and Priorities

7.30pm
Reception for delegates to the Greek section
Consulate-General of Greece

Tuesday 24th February

9.30-10.15
Opening Paper
George Kanarakis (Charles Sturt)
Self-Identity in Greek-Australian Literature

10.15-10.30
coffee

10.45-12.30

Stathis Gauntlett (La Trobe)
Orientalism and Occidentalism in the Popular Culture of the Greek Diaspora

Constantine Castan (Queensland)
Mapping the Greek-Australian Experience: a methodological suggestion

Maria Herodotou (La Trobe)
Self-Identification in the Literary Work of Greek-Cypriot Writers in Australia

12.30-1.30
lunch

1.30-3.15

James Potts (British Council)
Ambassadors of Hellenism: Bilingual and Anglophone Greek Writers Overseas
(Capetanakis, Trypanis, Tsaloumas and Toteras)

Ivor Indyk (Editor, Heat)
Antigone Kefala

Michael Tsianikas (Flinders)
That which saves, that which destroys: A critical approach to D. Toumakasí
The Lady with Spikes Around her Neck

3.15-3.30
coffee

3.30-5.30
Literary Panel

Sophia Catharios, Fotini Epanomitis, Antigone Kefala,
Tony Maniaty, Nikos Nomikos, Dimitris Tsaloumas, Dimitris Tzoumakas

6.30
Joint Reception by the British Council and the Goethe Institute
for delegates from both sections

Two films by Walter Lasally: The Greeks and Fragments of Isabella

Goethe Institute Sydney
90 Ocean St., Woollahra

Wednesday 25th February

9.00-10.15

Dhora Moustrides (Flinders)
Greek Cypriots: Marriage Partner Choice / Migration

Eugenia Arvanites (RMIT)
The Greek-Australian Identity: The Role of the Greek Part-Time Ethnic Schools

Maria Varvaressos (Sydney)
The History of Greek Education in Australia:A Diasporatic Journey through the Research, the Theory and the Experience

10.15-10.30
coffee

10.30-11.45

Elizabeth Kefallinos (Macquarie)
The Literature of the Greek-Australian Experience

Helen Nickas (La Trobe)
Choosing Their Language: Literary Writers of the Greek Diaspora

Maria Palakstoglou (Flinders)
The Issue of "Omogenia" in the Autobiographical Texts of Penelope Delta

11.45-12.30

Vrassidas Karalis (Sydney)
Minor Languages and Minority Voices in Contemporary Greece:
The Greek-Jewish Adventure as Literature

See,

http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/ces/diaspora.htm