Dr Panayota Nazou

Panayota's latest book is Greek Proxy Brides in Australia: Experiences and Testimonies.

It will be launched in September, 2012.

This book seeks to fill part of the gap in the story of Greek women emigrants to Australia and, in particular, those women whose purpose in emigrating was marriage through the matchmaking process, usually to a person they had never met.

The book aims to record the memory of this experience, to enable the voices of emigrant women to be heard in all their diversity and to give them the opportunity to reflect on their decision to emigrate, marry, and live in a society that was completely unknown and foreign to them.

BNSc (HASOO, Athens, 1973), BA (University of Sydney, 1979), MA Preliminary (Aristoteleion University, Thessaloniki, 1980-1981), PhD (University of Sydney, 1993)
Lecturer
Room 749 Brennan Building A18
+61 2 9351 7104
Email Panayota Nazou, here

Panayota Nazou teaches Greek language, contemporary Greek literature and culture, and sociolinguistics in the Greek diaspora. Her research interests range from postmodernism and Greek metafiction to women’s writing in exile and Greek women in the diaspora. She has been honoured with the awards for “Excellence in Teaching”, by the Modern Greek Teachers Association in NSW, 2004, and for “The Promotion of Modern Greek Studies Abroad”, by the Centre of Intercultural Education, University of Patras, Greece, 2005.

Research Areas
•Postmodernism and metafiction
•Minorities and minority discourses
•Greek women writers in exile
•Cultural history
•Oral history and Greek women in diaspora
•Greek cinema
•Intercultural education

Current Projects
•“Greek Women Writers in Exile: Melpo Axioti, Alki Zei, Mimika Kranaki”.
•“Greek ‘Proxy Brides’ in Australia: From Life Experience to Artistic Expression”. This is an ongoing project. I have participated, with project materials and finding, in the exhibition “A Brides Exhibition: Tales of Brides Past”, organized by the Greek Festival of Sydney, 2006, and funded by the Marrickville Council.

Selected Publications

Book Chapters
•"The Social Ideotypes of the Greek Diaspora in the Fictitious World of Alkis Zei and Mimika Kranaki", in http://www.eens-congress.eu/?main__page=1&main__lang=de&eensCongress_cmd=showPaper&eensCongress_id=194,2006, and in K. Dimadis (ed.), The Greek World between the Age of Enlightenment and the Twentieth Century, Vol. 2, Ellinika Grammata, Athens, 2007, pp. 630-652.

Conference Proceedings
•“Language Policy and the Teaching of Modern Greek in New South Wales, Australia, in Comparison to Other Languages”, in Georgoyiannis P. (ed,), Greek as a Second or Foreign Language: An Intercultural Approach, Proceedings of the Second International Conference (June 1999), University of Patras, 2000, pp. 27-42.
•“Internationalization or Globalization of Higher Education Institutions in Australia: The Position of Modern Greek Studies”, in Georgoyiannis P. (ed.), Intercultural Education: Greek as a Second or Foreign Language, 5th International Conference, University of Patras, 2003, pp. 43-72.
•“Melpo Axioti, Mimika Kranaki: Writing in Exile”, in Close E., Tsianikas M., Frazis G (eds.), Greek Research in Australia: Proceedings of the 4th Biennial Conference of Greek Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2003, pp. 359-380.
•“The Concept of the Other in Mimika Kranaki’s Philellines”, in Close E., Tsianikas M., Frazis G (eds.), Greek Research in Australia: Proceedings of the 5th Biennial Conference of Greek Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2005, pp. 661-690.
•“Multicultural/Intercultural Education in Australia: Theory, Practice, and Politics: The Case of Modern Greek”, in Georgoyiannis P. (ed,), Intercultural Education: Greek as a Second or Foreign Language, 7th International Conference, University of Patras, 2005, pp. 34-48.
•“Gender, Cultural, and Artistic Interconnections and ‘conjunctions/wed locks’ in Theodore Patrikareas’ theatrical play Throw away your Harmonika and Tom Cowan’s film Promised Woman”, in Close E., Tsianikas M., Couvalis G. (eds.), Greek Research in Australia: Proceedings of the 6th Biennial Conference of Greek Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2007, pp. 461-475.

Articles
•“Giorgos Cheimonas’ Peisistratos: The Metafiction of Adolescence: An Intertextual Reading”, Journal of Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand), Vol. 2 (1994), pp. 131-171.
•“Giorgos Cheimonas’ The Enemy of the Poet, or the Return to the Womb of Creativity”, Akte, 19 (Summer 1994), Cyprus, pp. 121-130.
•"Georgos Cheimonas’ The Wedding: Labyrinthine Dance of Initiation Origin: An Intertextual Reading”, To Yiofyri, 14(1994-1996), Sydney, pp. 12-28.
•“The Concept of Dialogism in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin”, Themata Logotechnias, 10 (November 98-February 99), Athens, pp. 187-200.
•“The Memory of the Dissident/Divergent Left: The Memoirs of A. Stinas”, in Vrasidas Karalis (ed.), Culture and Memory: Special issue of Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand), Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand, Sydney, 2006, pp. 257-278.

Areas of teaching and research supervision

Teaching
•Language
•Contemporary Greek literature
•Greek Film
•Greek fiction in cinema
•Sociolinguistics in the Greek diaspora

Supervision - Current
•Evangelia Carahaliou (Ph.D candidate), The women’s presence in Southern Corfu, in the 19th century.
•George Manolakos (MPhil. Candidate), ‘Traumascape’ in Theo

Supervision - Completed
•Anthony Papadopoulos (Ph.D, 2005), A historical and socio-economic approach to the phenomenon of emigration, repatriation and re-emigration: the Greek-Australian case.
•Nikolitsa Komninou (MPhil., 2006), The awarded young-adult novel in Greece (1985-2004).

Conference activity
•Co-organizer (and speaker), 7th Biennial Conference on “Culture and Memory”, MGSAANZ, Sydney, 2004.
•Invited speaker at the symposium “The Hellenes of Australia”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2004.
•Invited and honoured speaker at the 7th International Conference on Intercultural Education: Greek as a Second or Foreign Language”, University of Patras, 2005.
•Speaker (and chair of session) at the 6th Biennial International Conference, on “Greek Research in Australia”, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2005.
•Speaker (and chair of session) at the 3rd European Congress of Modern Greek Studies, on “The Greek world between the Age of Enlightenment and the twentieth century”, EAMGS, Bucharest, 2006; Athens 2007.
•Co-organizer (and speaker), 8th Biennial Conference on “Minorities and Minority Discourses in the Greek World”, MGSAANZ, Sydney, 2006.
•Speaker at the 7th International Conference on “Greek Research”, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2007.

Other professional contributions
•Member of the Undergraduate Matters Committee, Arts Faculty, University of Sydney.
•Member of the Executive Committee, MGSAANZ.
•Member of the Board of Studies, NSW, for Modern Greek.