Ρίζες και Ρότες (Roots and Routes) I

Περιδιαβαίνοντας μετά από χρόνια απουσίας τη Θεσσαλονίκη, ένα προσωπικό τόπο μνήμης από το λύκειο και τα φοιτητικά μου χρόνια (1975-1984), επιστρέφει στο νου ξαφνικά, σαν απόλυτη ανάγκη, το αγαπημένο Δρόμοι Παλιοί, με κυριεύει, απαιτεί να το σιγοτραγουδήσω.

«Δρόμοι παλιοί που αγάπησα και μίσησα ατέλειωτα

Κάτω απ’ τους ίσκιους των σπιτιών να περπατώ

Νύχτες των γυρισμών αναπότρεπτες κι η πόλη νεκρή

Την ασήμαντη παρουσία μου βρίσκω σε κάθε γωνιά»

Οι λαβύρινθοι της μνήμης επιλέγουν ένα διάδρομο σύνδεσης με το παρελθόν, με μεταφέρουν σε μια δομή αισθήματος για την πόλη βαθιά ριζωμένη από τότε, ως βαθιά μνήμη/γνώση. Επαναλαμβάνω τους στίχους τραγουδιστά μία, δυο, τρεις φορές, βυθίζομαι στο ημίφως ενός μονόδρομου, πηγαινοέρχομαι μια διαδρομή που με ελευθέρωνε από κάτι αλλού και με δέσμευε με κάτι νέο τώρα ρουτίνα, επιστρέφω στη βιβλιοθήκη που κατασπάραξε την εφηβεία μου (και προς λάθος επάγγελμα), να και ο δρόμος για το φροντιστήριο, οδός «εισαγωγή στο πανεπιστήμιο», βαριά βήματα λιώνουν την άσφαλτο, παρηγοριά μια πρόσοψη αγαπημένου βιβλιοπωλείου, αριστερά ένα μπαρ που πλέον δεν υπάρχει, Μητροπόλεως, μετά Ολύμπιον, ραντεβού, το πρόσωπό της εκλείπει το θάμβος της Αριστοτέλους.

Επανέρχομαι από την ονειροπόληση. Μετά από σαράντα χρόνια μακριά της, το ποίημα/τραγούδι δεν μπορεί παρά να συναντήσει έναν άλλο εαυτό, αυτή τη φορά διασπορικό. Είναι αυτός ο εαυτός που τώρα τον προσκαλεί να συλλογισθεί τη σημασία των στίχων σε σχέση με τις «Ρίζες», να αμφισβητήσει ένα αφήγημα που o συμβατικός τρόπος που ενορχηστρώνεται τον περικυκλώνει ως παραδοσιακός χορός, αυτόν που στον κύκλο του ποτέ δεν συμμετείχε.

Δεν γεννήθηκα στη Θεσσαλονίκη, η πόλη δεν είναι η καταγωγή μου. Τη θεωρώ όμως αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι αυτού που τώρα αποκαλούμε ρίζες. Εδώ ερωτεύτηκα, εδώ περιπλανήθηκα απελευθερωμένος από τους ελέγχους της μικρής γενέτειρας πόλης (της προηγούμενης ρίζας), εδώ έπαιξα και απόλαυσα μπάσκετ, εδώ με τυράννησε το μεσαιωνικό εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα, με έπνιξε, εδώ με στένεψε ο διαχωρισμός «αρρένων και θηλέων», εδώ οι βιτρίνες των βιβλιοπωλείων, του Ραγιά, του Μόλχο, του Κεντρί με καλούσαν σε ένα χώρο που διακαώς επιθυμούσα να εισέλθω, τη συγγραφή, μα αδυνατούσα να συμμετάσχω στον κόσμο του.

Οι ρίζες της Θεσσαλονίκης δεν αιωρούνται μοναχικές, σαν εσωτερικά φαντάσματα. Παίρνουν το νόημα τους σε σχέση με τις προηγούμενες, του γενέθλιου τόπου, και αυτές τις ρίζες που επακόλουθα δημιουργήθηκαν, στη διασπορά, στην Αμερική. Οι τελευταίες προφανώς δεν είναι καταγωγικές, αλλά πνευματικές. Συμπεριλαμβάνουν μελέτες για τις ρίζες, οι οποίες σε συνδυασμό με βιωματικές εμπειρίες με προσανατόλισαν προς νέους τρόπους θεώρησης πέρα από απλοποιήσεις και εξιδανικεύσεις.

«Οι δρόμοι που αγάπησα και μίσησα» εκφράζουν μια αμφιθυμία την οποία μοιράζονται πλείστοι διασπορικοί για τις ρίζες τους. Μόλις αυτό το Σάββατο, στα ΝΕΑ, ο Βρασίδας Καραλής υπογραμμίζει την «αμφίθυμη σχέση που είχαν» και ο Ελία Καζάν και ο Τζον Κασσαβέτης «με την καταγωγή τους». Η αμφιθυμία μας οδηγεί να προσεγγίσουμε τις ρίζες πέρα από τη νοσταλγία, καλώντας να χαρτογραφήσουμε την πολυπλοκότητα των αισθημάτων, να εντοπίσουμε τις αντιφάσεις, να κατανοήσουμε την προέλευσή τους, να ιστορικοποιήσουμε τελικά τη σχέση του διασπορικού υποκειμένου με το παρελθόν του.

Πρόσθετα, οι ρίζες διασχίζονται από δρόμους, και κυριολεκτικά και μεταφορικά, που ένας μόνο κάποιους αγάπησε ενώ κάποιους άλλους μίσησε. Η κριτική ανάλυση εξερευνάει τη σχέση με τις ρίζες σε συγκεκριμένους τόπους/δρόμους – τι τους άγγιξε, τι τους εκδίωξε, πώς και γιατί. (1)

Οι ρίζες δεν αποτελούν ένα σταθερό σημείο καταγωγής, αλλά ένα παλίμψηστο «ριζών» οι οποίες δημιουργούνται μέσω διαδρομών στο χώρο και το χρόνο. Προσωπικά οι διαδρομές μου συμπεριλαμβάνουν την Ορεστιάδα, τη Θεσσαλονίκη, τη Λουϊζιάνα, το Οχάϊο, και αλλού. (και τη Μελβούρνη που μόνο προσωρινά επισκέφτηκα αλλά την αισθάνθηκα φαντασιακά σαν ρίζες.)

Οι ρίζες δεν αποτελούν ένα σταθερό σημείο νοήματος. Πρόκειται για ένα παλίμψηστο τα στρώματα του οποίου «συνομιλούν» μεταξύ τους διαδραστικά, το νόημα του ενός αποδίδεται μέσω της οπτικής των άλλων. Η σχέση μου με τις ρίζες στη συμπρωτεύουσα είναι αδύνατο να κατανοηθεί ανεξάρτητα από το βίωμα των «ριζών» στη γενέθλια πόλη. Δεν θα ήταν δυνατόν να αποδώσω τη σχέση μου με τους δρόμους της Θεσσαλονίκης και τις ρίζες γενικότερα με τον τρόπο που το κάνω εδώ χωρίς τις γνώσεις που απέκτησα στο χώρο των πνευματικών μου Αμερικανικών ριζών.

Από αυτήν τη θέση οι ρίζες δεν κατανοούνται χωρίς να λάβουμε υπ' όψη τις ρότες (routes) / διαδρομές του υποκειμένου που τις νοηματοδοτεί. (2) Με άλλα λόγια, Roots and Routes πάνε βόλτα μαζί.

Σημειώσεις:

1. Βλ. παρακάτω σύνδεσμο. Το κείμενο αναλύει το μυθιστόρημα του Θεόδωρου Γρηγοριάδη ζωή μεθόρια μέσα από το πρίσμα της μεθοριακής θεωρίας. Χαρτογραφεί τις φεμινιστικές πρακτικές της ηρωίδας με σκοπό να συνδέσει τη θεματική της μεθορίου, ενός κεντρικού θέματος του μυθιστορήματος, με το εξωκειμενικό θέμα της διασποράς. Η έκκεντρη σύνδεση μου επιτρέπει να προτείνω την επαναθέωρηση του αφηγήματος περί «διασποράς και ριζών» στην Ελλάδα πέρα από την ιδεολογία μιας ενιαίας διασπορικής ταυτότητας και ενός συμπαγούς καταγωγικού χώρου. https://marginalia.gr/.../oria-methorios-diaspora.../

2. Καλό θα ήταν, όσοι προωθούν το αφήγημα «Ρίζες» στην Ελλάδα να μελετήσουν το πόνημα του James Clifford για τις Ρότες. (υπάρχει βέβαια και σχετική ανάλυση σε σχέση με την ελληνοαμερικανική διασπορά, αν δεν το έχετε υπ' όψιν σας.)

Γιώργος Αναγνώστου

Ιούλιος 1, 2026

“Incorporating Diasporic History and Culture in the Greek Language Classroom.” _ A Workshop Talk

This gathering provides me with the opportunity to advocate the inclusion of diasporic histories and identities in our language classroom and initiate a conversation whether there is an interest among language educators to turn this idea into a project.

Let me start with this contrast: On the one hand, scholars in Greece advocate the incorporation of diasporic literature and autobiography in the language heritage classroom. They develop teaching material – anthologies of diasporic texts for example – and discuss issues of pedagogy. What are the criteria for choosing cultural content, they ask. There is a significant corpus of publications.

On the other hand, there is limited discussion in the United State about a pedagogy centered on diasporic material. To the best of knowledge, and I hope I am mistaken, we have not been particularly keen in systematically thinking about this prospect.

I do not believe we have a good sense of the scale of interest among educators on the topic.

An interest is emerging, though, and this talk aims to contribute to the nascent conversation.

Our relative inattention contrasts with the cultural realties of our classrooms where the immigrant past and the ethnic present are ubiquitous. Think of the multiple linguistic registers at work. One is Grenglish, the result of the exposure of the students to two languages; in circulation are vocabularies and grammars of regional dialects connected with family histories; the linguistic repertoire of students includes passages of koine due to exposure to the Greek Orthodoxy liturgy and Sunday school; probably one could detect in their speaking traces of Greek as it was spoken in the 1950s and 1960s. If we were to include Cypriot students, they would have contributed additional layers of linguistic diversity.

Our classroom are exciting spaces of heteroglossias.

The immigrant past and the ethnic present are also present in the memories, experiences, and social imagination of our students. There are family stories and histories, there are feelings and perceptions about growing up and living as a bicultural person.

If this is the case, if indeed immigration and ethnicity is everywhere in the classroom why we do not then inquire about their place in our curricula. As educators we now recognize that the identities and interests which the students bring with them in the classroom matter in connection to the content of our courses and the pedagogies we practice. If we agree, this question confronts us: What is the place of their subjectivities in the modern Greek language classroom? In turn, how do engage with these identities?

The prevailing practices in our classrooms connect students with Greece. Their interest in folk and popular culture, their ancestral roots, history, classical heritage, customs and traditions, places them in relation to Greek regions and national culture. The fact that the textual content of our classroom is Greece-centered accommodates this interest. In this respect, the language classroom empowers these identifications.

But we do not know enough on how our heritage students negotiate their biculturalism, how they understand their identities. College students tend to resist narratives that impose an identity on them. Instead, they view themselves as agents in shaping their own identities.

How do we engage these perspectives in the classroom? What material do we assign to enter into conversation with this point of view? Diasporic studies have theorized these issues.

There is an added dimension I must introduce in the discussion. It is an institutional mission by the Panhellenic Scholarship Foundation, an organization for which many of us have served as academic advisors; an organization also that has granted scholarship to many of our students. I quote their mission statement.

“Building a better America through Education and Hellenism is at the core of the Foundation’s mission. In that spirit, we aim to strengthen our civic fabric by supporting Greek American undergraduates as they develop their paideia and become enlightened and engaged citizen.”

The question here is how Greek and Greek American history and culture mediate the making of Greek diasporic citizenship. We notice, obviously, the emphasis is on the future, Greek American becoming in relation to the United States. Is this call relevant to us? If so, how we contribute to it?

Based on all the above, the question I am asking is this one: Are we interested in building on this conversation? Do you find value in expanding the curriculum to diasporic material?

Educators may have their own reasons to object or hesitate to incorporate diasporic topics in the classroom. Such a position merits discussion, which I hope we will be taking up in the Q&A. A major challenge, I believe is the artificial boundary between modern Greek and Greek American studies. Most language educators have been trained in the former and it is this focus that shapes their approach to teaching language and culture. Venturing in Greek American/diasporic history and culture presents significant challenges.

For those of us who are interested in the topic but are not familiar with conversations about the politics and poetics of Greek America and diaspora in general, there are still several routes for the gradual incorporation of diasporic material.

One is to introduce material that have been analyzed by modern Greek studies scholars.
I have in mind Mimika Kranaki’s Philellines, Thanasis Valtinos’ To Synaxari tou Andrea Kordopatis, and certainly the corpus of Vassilis Alexakis. There are the songs of Xenitia, documentaries on George Pelecanos, a crime fiction writer, in English with captions in Greek, translations of Jeffery Eugenides, Christos Tsiolkas. Many texts are available in translation, making them suitable candidates for modules on translation choices. There is visual material and popular culture that place Greek cultural icons such as Karaghiozis in the American context.

A second approach is to include texts that involve bilingualism, translanguaging, and the poetics of linguistic play between Greek and English, including translation.There is also ample material on linguistic play involving anagrams and homophony, which could lead to the discovery of unexpected and playful affinities between Greek and English.

At this juncture, I ought to bring into the conversation our non-heritage students, a diverse and vital demographic that includes international students and those with multiple heritages. Instead of working with the duality of heritage/non-heritage students, I prefer to think of this population in terms of affinities and partial commonalities. Some children of immigrants may bring to the classroom an affinity for the experience of living with bilingual and bicultural realities. Diasporic material can offer resources to engage with issues beyond heritage, including the circumstances leading to socioeconomic mobility, the experience of migration, otherness and belonging, gender, self-representation, the ideological dimensions of identity narratives, ethnic and racial hierarchies, and the poetics of identity and translation.

I close with this thought: Our language classroom is a site of knowledge production about diasporic histories and experiences. This happens in a variety of ways. For their class projects, students often chose to tell family, or personal stories. This includes their interviews with family members. Classes which incorporate the interaction of our students with their peers in Greece, and which include comparison of their experiences, produce an ethnographic treasure trove. In other words, the language classroom is a key place for understanding the “next generation.” We may wish to think collectively about ways to enhance this function and disseminate the results.

Yiorgos Anagnostou


A Workshop on Greek Linguistics. The Laboratory for the Study of the Greek Language. The Ohio State University. April 18, 2026.

The Forgotten Half, or the Plight of the Twice Hyphenated, by Gerasimus Katsan, The Voices of the Other Greek America # 16

The Voices of the Other Greek America # 16

The Forgotten Half, or the Plight of the Twice Hyphenated

by Gerasimus Katsan

"If insist on 'purity,' where does that leave the better than two-thirds of Greeks who have intermarried? What secular cultural institutions do we currently have that don’t alienate the children of intermarried families or create the othering of 'half-Greeks' and the twice-hyphenated Greek-African-Americans, Greek-Latino-Americans, Greek-(white ethnic)-Americans, Greek-Asian-Americans? Naturally it is true that specific communities have addressed this problem in their own ways, some finding solutions to the question of inclusion and negotiating the boundaries of identity. There is a kind of arrogance in the insistence that to be a 'real Greek' you must be only Greek and nothing else, and to gain acceptance you must put aside the other side of your identity. It also begs the question of who gets to decide who is a “real Greek” in the first place.4 Intermarried couples always have to negotiate this issue within their own families. Which culture will be dominant, which will be subordinate? Preferably a balance could be found between the two."

Ergon: Gender and Diasporic Greek Women

A major contour of Ergon’s politics involves foregrounding questions of diasporic gender and women. The interest lies in exploring how women have been acting on patriarchal structures and economic systems of exploitation. How the next generation negotiates intergenerational trauma, tradition, norms, male authority. How it articulates and frames women’s voices. The strategies and tactics of women’s agency.

Questions on the ethics and politics of representation are central to our inquiry while also the material conditions shaping women’s life trajectories.

We utilize a variety of writing genres: interview, essay, article, blog, poetry, book review. We analyze fiction, public fora, essays, experiences, cultural memories, the archive.

This cultural work primarily connects with Greek America and lately Greek Australia and is now venturing into representations cast in terms of globality. Involving conversations across national boundaries this orientation inevitably opens a space where modern Greek and transnational diasporic studies intersect. It is in this space of cross-fertilization that we also wish to cultivate inviting colleagues from various disciplines to contribute to our mission.

Ergon is the product of labor that perhaps does not advance one’s career the way publishing in other venues would. This is what makes the work of our contributors special, the ethos of practicing scholarship in various iterations because first and foremost what matters is the ethics and politics we pursue.

I thank all our contributors who make this project possible!

Sharing the list of our publications on the topic (with apologies for any inadvertent omissions).

The Feasting Virgin. Georgia Kolias. Review by Henriette Lazaridis, 2021. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/books/the-feasting-virgin

“‘It is Chic to be Greek’ in the Greek/American Classroom: Ethnic Revival, Representation, Gender.” Yiorgos Anagnostou, 2021. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/it-is-chic-to-be-greek

“Writing Greek America: Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality.” Artemis Leontis, 2021. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/ergastirio/perspectives-on-gender-and-sexuality

“Fathers and Daughters: Joanna Eleftheríou’s This Way Back.” Review of This Way Back, by Joanna Eleftheriou. George Kouvaros,2022. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/books/fathers-and-daughters

“Aubrey Dawne Edwards, Artist, Educator, Storyteller, Advocate for Social Justice: An Interview.” Interview by Artemis Leontis. 2023. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/interviews/advocate-for-social-justice

“Her Heritage Made Sense”—Diasporic Success! Women Transmitting and Queering Foodways in Annie Liontas’s Let Me Explain You.” Yiorgos Anagnostou, 2023. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/articles/her-heritage-made-sense

“The Politics of Life and Death: Working-Class Greek Immigrant Women and the Castle Gate Mine Disaster––A Tribute.” Yiorgos Anagnostou, 2024. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/articles/the-politics-of-life-and-death

The Mother Must Die. Koraly Dimitriadis. Review by Dean Kalymniou https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/books/koraly-dimitriadis-the-mother-must-die

Still navigating through uncharted waters in radio silence: Is anyone there? Leah Fygetakis, 2025. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/voices-of-the-other-greek-america-leah-fygetakis

The Greek Table, Artemis Leontis, 2026. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/voices-of-the-other-greek-america-artemis-leontis

Performing Belonging: Reimagining Greek America through Embodied Artistic Practice, Yona Stamatis, 2026. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/voices-of-the-other-greek-america-yona-stamatis

A Greek Revolution in America, Eleftheria Lialios, 2026. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/voices-of-the-other-greek-america-eleftheria-lialios

Across a Polarized Divide, Elaine Angelopoulos, 2026. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/voices-of-the-other-greek-america-elaine-angelopoulos

“Greek Women Speak: An Appreciation.” Dean Kalymniou. 2026. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/greek-women-speak-an-appreciation

“Articulating Women’s Voices Across Borders: Reflections on Balance the Scales: Women, Migration and Leadership 1835–2026.” Dean Kalymniou, 2026.
https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/essays/articulating-womens-voices-across-borders

“Critical Humanities, Cultural Leaders, the Ethics and Politics of Diasporic Representation.” Yiorgos Anagnostou, 2026. https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/blog/the-ethics-and-politics-of-diasporic-representation

On the Question of Diasporic Voice and Polyvocality – A Note

Definition: “Polyvocality refers to the presence of multiple voices, perspectives, or viewpoints within a single work, allowing for a rich tapestry of narratives and interpretations. This concept emphasizes the idea that no single voice can encapsulate the entirety of human experience, encouraging dialogue and interaction among diverse characters or narrative strands. It is especially relevant in hybrid forms and cross-genre works where varied genres and styles converge.”

Voice and voicing are terms now in wide circulation in emerging diasporic identity narratives: the importance of registering a variety of perspectives, experiences, claims to truth; of sharing one’s life story, interpretation of history, explanation of this and that cultural phenomenon. Polyvocality is hailed, not unjustly, as a tool for inclusion, for democratic representation.

 
To historicize “voice” in connection to Greek America, this is a most welcoming development. The demand for the inclusion of voices from all walks of life – the poor, feminists, working-class activists, LGBTQ, non-Greek Orthodox, critical intellectuals – was central in the strategy of resisting the hegemony of an identity narrative which was grand in scale but small in scope: monophonic and reductive. It was (and still is) facing little resistance in significant public sectors and among several so-called leaders.

But acknowledging the value of voice, multiplicity offers only a step toward a meaningful exchange of perspectives. Once I experienced the following in a diasporic polyphonic event: voicing nationalist pride, ahistorical explanations of the past, claims on the cultural syncretism of the diasporic self, idealist explanations of mobility and contrasting sociological positions on the topic among a potpourri of contradictory perspectives.

Without a moderator to deliberate, point to false assumptions and unfounded claims, the polyphonic event ended in a cacophonic tenor. People spoke but there was no effort to really listen to and engage with others to reach a sort of intersubjectivity/mutual understanding. It ended up as a multiplicity of monophonic narratives without a chorus to reflect, comment, critique. As far from a Greek performance as one could imagine. Overwhelming praise was everywhere in public (media, speeches official announcements), consternation was abundant in private.

No scholar analyzed the event, no media critically reflected on it.

Hegemonic views remained intact.

Polyphony does not mean that all claims carry equal weight of validity. At work must be the operation of deliberation: criteria for evaluating claims, knowledge to assess the merit of perspectives, critical judgement. More so because voices are deeply ideological and resistant to change. Who decides on these criteria? Polyvocality comes with a rich body of scholarship and, well, multiple perspectives.

How we practice this deliberation is an urgent question. How do we achieve this kind of dialogic and agonistic exchange productively when – and I speak in relation to Greek America – this art and politics of inclusion has been stifled by expansive networks of power?

Yiorgos Anagnostou

March 16, 2026

Voices of the Other Greek America # 15 Yiorgo Topalidis, The Souls of Greek American Folk: The Racial Reckoning of Helladic and Ottoman Greeks in the 20th Century

Yiorgo Topalidis

The Souls of Greek American Folk: The Racial Reckoning of Helladic and Ottoman Greeks in the 20th Century

[The "assimilationist narrative" and its Others] 

Μαθήματα ελληνοαμερικανικής ιστορίας - Κριτικές διασπορικές σπουδές στην Ελλάδα

Σε πρόσφατη εύστοχη τοποθέτηση στο φβ με τίτλο «Μαθήματα αμερικανικής ιστορίας», ο ιστορικός Κωστής Καρπόζηλος χαρτογραφεί τις πρόσφατες πολιτικές εξελίξεις στην Αμερική σε σχέση με τον σχεδιασμό εδραίωσης μια εθνο-κεντρικής (nation-centric) ερμηνείας της ιστορίας. Μιας ιστορίας που εξυμνεί κοινές αξίες και μόνο, σχεδιάζοντας να ακυρώσει ιστορικές αφηγήσεις που εξηγούν πώς ιστορικές δομές πολιτιστικής και πολιτικής καταπίεσης (δηλαδή ιστορικά προσδιορισμένες αξίες της κυρίαρχης τάξης) κατέστρεψαν ανθρώπους και πολιτισμούς, στιγμάτισαν μη ηγεμονικές ταυτότητες, ισοπέδωσαν εναλλακτικές ερμηνείες, αναπαρήγαγαν φτώχεια. Η κρατική εξουσία διεκδικεί το μονοπώλιο της ιστορικής αλήθειας.

Ο Καρπόζηλος σωστά θέτει την αναγκαία μάχη – «την αμφισβήτηση και αναθεώρηση της μίας και μοναδικής ‘Αλήθειας’» – ως το νέο μέτωπο των ανθρωπιστικών και κοινωνικών επιστημών. Απαιτείται να κατευθυνθεί η διανόηση προς την «κατανόηση των νέων διαχωριστικών γραμμών και πεδίων συγκρότησης των πολιτικών και ιδεολογικών αντιπαραθέσεων».

Θεωρώντας την χαρτογράφηση του αγαπητού συναδέλφου (του οποίου το ελληνοαμερικανικό έργο και το πρόσφατο βιβλίο γνωρίζω πολύ καλά) δεν είναι δυνατόν να μην ανακαλέσω τις (τελείως άνισες) μάχες που εδώ και δεκαετίες διεξάγει η κριτική διασπορική έρευνα με σκοπό την καταπολέμηση ηγεμονικών ερμηνειών της ελληνοαμερικανικής ιστορίας ως μόνης Αλήθειας. 

Βέβαια οι συνθήκες αυτής της αντιπαράθεσης διαφέρουν από αυτές που καταγράφουν τα «Μαθήματα αμερικανικής ιστορίας». Αλλά τα ερωτήματα είναι συναφή: Ποιες είναι οι στρατηγικές αποδόμησης της ηγεμονικής ερμηνείας; Με ποιους τρόπους θα μπορούσαν τα εναλλακτικά αφηγήματα να ενδυναμωθούν στην δημόσια σφαίρα; Πώς η ανάλυση της ποίησης και της λογοτεχνίας συνδράμουν σε εναλλακτικές ερμηνευτικές θεωρήσεις ταυτότητας;

Ίσως στα πλαίσια που θέτουν τα Αμερικανικά μαθήματα και οι στροφές που εξαναγκάζουν, οι Έλληνες επιστήμονες να συναντήσουν τις κριτικές σπουδές διασποράς που, η πικρή αλήθεια είναι, πολλοί έχουν καταφέρει κατάφορα να αγνοήσουν (με υπέροχες εξαιρέσεις βέβαια).

Γενικά, τουλάχιστον τρεις εκδοχές διασπορικών εκφράσεων εξιτάρουν την δημοσιογραφία, την δημόσια διανόηση και τους ακαδημαϊκούς κύκλους στην Ελλάδα. Όταν αφηγούνται (α) το έθνος (εθνικές επετείους, παρελάσεις, «πολιτιστική μεταφύτευση»)· (β) κοινωνικές & οικονομικές επιτυχίες· (γ) την αριστερά (Τίκας, Γεωργακάς, αγώνες ενάντια στον καπιταλισμό).

Το πώς τα ηγεμονικά αφηγήματα δημιουργούνται, από ποιους, και ο τρόπος επικράτησής τους· η δημιουργία μιας γενεαολογίας πολιτικών ακτιβιστών που τα πολέμησαν πολιτιστικά (πέρα από αριστερά κομματικά πλαίσια) · η γενεαλογία προοδευτικών που αποσύρθηκαν από τον πόλεμο· πως ιδεολογίες ακαδημαϊκών και θεσμών έχουν συνδράμει τα μέγιστα στην εδραίωση ουσιοκρατικών και ανιστόρητων αφηγημάτων· η πολιτική μοναξιά των λίγων πλέον που αντιστέκονται· οι διεπιστημονικές και θεωρητικές πρακτικές οποίες έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί σε αυτές τις αντιπαραθέσεις· δημιουργία εναλλακτικών ιδεολογικών κοινωνικών χώρων και κοινοτήτων. Πέρα από σημαντικές φωτεινές εξαιρέσεις, ένα ποσοστό της ελληνικής ακαδημαϊκής κοινότητας δεν έχει εκδηλώσει ενδιαφέρον προς αυτές τις κατευθύνσεις για τις οποίες υπάρχει σχετικά πλούσια (αγγλόφωνη ως επί το πλείστον) βιβλιογραφία. Κάποιοι αγνοούν τις ελληνικές τους μεταφράσεις, άλλοι ακόμα τις απαξιώνουν …

Αν δεν επιθυμεί η ακαδημαϊκή κοινότητα να βρεθεί στην κατάσταση της ελληνοαμερικανικής ηγεμονικής υπερ-επικράτησης της συντηρητικής ερμηνείας της ιστορίας από πανίσχυρους θεσμούς και δημόσιας εσωτερίκευσης, θα κέρδιζε κάτι πιστεύω, αν ξεφύλλιζε τα γραφόμενα μας. Αυτό εξηγεί την επιμονή αρκετών από εμάς, εδώ και καιρό, για το άνοιγμα της ιστοριογραφίας και γενικά νεοελληνικών σπουδών σε διεθνικά πεδία πέρα από τους καθιερωμένους τόπους στους οποίους αναφέρθηκα παραπάνω.

Γιώργος Αναγνώστου

Απρίλιος 3 2025

Invisible and emergent developments in Greek America

Writing in 2017, in the short-lived online zine “Bridge,” I concluded my thoughts regarding Greek America’s uncharted transformations as follows:

"Is is possible that what the public sees as an impending cultural extinction is in fact Greek America’s profound remaking? This transformation is emergent and therefore difficult to grasp, as our available categories—such as ethnic community or ethnic culture—are inadequate to capture the unfolding phenomena. In the absence of a language to help us name, discern, and comprehend these transformations, many resort to the vocabulary of extinction. The old is undergoing a substantial rearrangement of its elements; aspects of it are even disappearing. The new has not yet taken a discernible form. The challenge is for us to understand these multifaceted developments. Who says that practicing Greek American studies lacks excitement?"

https://bridge.fairead.net/bridge01...

My aim was to orient the imagining of Greek America beyond its conventional tropes––which in retrospect they persist and now even enjoy a sort of revitalization. My scope was beyond charting the “changing same,” the ways cultural practices and organizations (say folk dancing, regional societies) reconfigure or recontextualize their identitarian preservationist projects. There is great merit of course to study these relatively visible phenomena.

My interest was in invisible and emergent developments in Greek America––a great challenge to identify given the tiny number of ethnographers working in the field (and who produce excellent work).

The recent, ongoing initiative “Voices of the Other Greek America” probed me to revisit this interest as it has been sketching several spaces in the mapping I was imagining. It involves a variety of community modalities with porous borders, often extending one into another.

First is the articulation of what I call “practices of care,” structures of feeling expressed as affective support and solidarity with those who participate in the social life of the community but relegated as lesser, non-authentic, “not-Greek” enough; or those who rebel against the community’s norms and subjected to ostracism.

Practices of care are expressed in words and extended in social interaction. In everyday life they involve people from all walks of life, though usually find public expression in the voices of academics and artists who make a point to incorporate the voices of those negatively affected by hierarchies and exclusions. A genealogy of this structure of feeling will include Greek/American calls in the 1970s and 1980s for solidarity with socially vulnerable non-Greek demographics as well as scholarship and the arts in the 1990s and beyond critiquing exclusionary narratives of identity homogenizing and idealizing the group.

Individuals caring to enhance the visibility and empower this space could utilize a variety of genres––essay, short story, poetry, letter to editors, newspaper editorial, plays, song––and disseminate it far and wide.

Second is proposing spaces of transcultural mixing (music, the arts, performances) as inclusive venues enabling coexistence for all sorts of multicultural subjectivities. Moving away from “ethnicity as authenticity,” these "third spaces" cultivate post-ethnic communities of belonging where multiplicity (bicultural, ethnic, and non-ethnic identities) is the mode of belonging.

Recognized by modern Greek studies scholars (certainly vocally at my own institution as syncretic Hellenism when I was a graduate student in the 1990s) as an inherent dimension of diasporic identities, mixing was sidelined by nationalist renderings of the “diaspora”––though it continued operating in popular culture (in music, Dr. Bouzouki’s rendering of Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” in Greek for example) and the arts, including poetry.

Now rendered legitimate by dominant institutions (see Orthodox Observer), mixing moves Greek America to zones of cross-cultural exchanges and cosmopolitan terrains beyond insular ethnicity and nationalist appropriations of the diaspora.

Third is rendering visible small scale, local, decentralized, loosely connected social circles gathering to exchange ideas, knowledge, experiences; to comment and reflect on things Greek. Cultivating informal sociability, these gathering enrich the participants who may find inspiration and motivation to incorporate the learning they privately accrue to their public endeavors, an invisible transmission unless an ethnographer attends to these circulations.

Fourth is the recognition of what I called the Greek/American inheritance, the work produced in the past by scholars, researchers, artists who resisted monophonic narratives of identity and ahistorical heritage to contribute to rich imaginings of Greek America. Attending to the contributions of each one of those cultural workers is one way to foreground their legacy.

But there is yet another route that we could cultivate this legacy, one which would orient us and hopefully intersect us with the communities I outlined above:

Orienting our writings toward contributing to the empowerment of practices of care, making visible syncretic expressions of Hellenism (and their significance), disseminating our work in ways that could reach all sorts of communities of learning.

This matters. There is an audience in these spaces, I believe, with which we could interface as we continue the project of probing other emergent or invisible Greek Americas in the terrain...

Yiorgos Anagnostou
02/07/2026

Voices of Greek America # 13 Elaine Thomopoulos Issues in Greek America

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