Before anyone proclaims a grand explanation (after "grand narrative") of *the* truth of a parade, it is necessary to examine parades ethnographically and historically. There have been instances when the LGBTQ Irish have been excluded from diasporic Irish parades. The NYC Greek Independence Parade has featured, at least once, a high school honoring labor organizer Louis Tikas (1886-1914), a figure that is censored by some Greek American narratives. In another instance, a leftist "contingency," which is anathema in certain Greek American circles, was permitted to join the parade.
On this topic, I noted this in an essay published in 2018:
"Though parades may strictly adhere to certain institutionalized conventions of display, a standardized grammar, so to speak, they are fluid, and subjects to change."
Also, "Spectators share with the ethnographer and among one other complaints about the favoritism exhibited by the marching order of the various participating groups. They speak about the power of inside connections—the infamous practice of meson—as the means to unfairly promote one’s interests at the expense of others’. Some criticize the lavishness of the festivities surrounding the parade, including the presence of dignitaries flown from Greece, as unacceptable luxury in the midst of the Greek economic crisis."
On this topic, I noted this in an essay published in 2018:
"Though parades may strictly adhere to certain institutionalized conventions of display, a standardized grammar, so to speak, they are fluid, and subjects to change."
Also, "Spectators share with the ethnographer and among one other complaints about the favoritism exhibited by the marching order of the various participating groups. They speak about the power of inside connections—the infamous practice of meson—as the means to unfairly promote one’s interests at the expense of others’. Some criticize the lavishness of the festivities surrounding the parade, including the presence of dignitaries flown from Greece, as unacceptable luxury in the midst of the Greek economic crisis."
Parades present contested spaces whose boundaries are negotiated for particular constituencies to make identity and ideological claims. What is more, sectors of a diasporic group do not identify with them. So there is not such a thing as a parade reflecting a "community." Which community, whose community?
Communities are constructed and they make specific, often competing claims within a singe space. Some communities of interests are excluded. This ethnohistoric reality must be the starting point for any conversation about diasporic parades and their meanings.
Yiorgos Anagnostou
https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/ways-of-seeing-and-imagining?fbclid=IwAR02zcgRAPX3hmLLt0hVFc3eTWInFzZGrjXzRLtY2LUagjM17Enn7kQD1Ls_aem_AUwdaYlqJHc6oX1gNdDqiAQxU3mE-cIv2tmJKAzawImX4ORxn6jRIZEmgxKVNMKPKnKZ61t-K954jF8x5k2FyLQn
Communities are constructed and they make specific, often competing claims within a singe space. Some communities of interests are excluded. This ethnohistoric reality must be the starting point for any conversation about diasporic parades and their meanings.
Yiorgos Anagnostou
https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/ways-of-seeing-and-imagining?fbclid=IwAR02zcgRAPX3hmLLt0hVFc3eTWInFzZGrjXzRLtY2LUagjM17Enn7kQD1Ls_aem_AUwdaYlqJHc6oX1gNdDqiAQxU3mE-cIv2tmJKAzawImX4ORxn6jRIZEmgxKVNMKPKnKZ61t-K954jF8x5k2FyLQn
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