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The Pear Tree: Family Narratives of Greek Macedonian Migration to Australia

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The Pear Tree: Family Narratives of Greek Macedonian Migration to Australia The Pear Tree Family Narratives of Greek Macedonian Migration to Australia Andrea Cleland ORCID 0000-0002-5188-5457 Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 3 September 2018 Faculty of Arts The University of Melbourne ABSTRACT The pear tree referred to in the title of this thesis was planted in the soil of Ottoman Macedonia and bore fruit for over a century in the courtyard of my father’s home in a small village in Florina. A bitterly contested region of the Balkans, Florina was incorporated into Greece in 1912 following the First Balkan War. Ongoing disruptions to place and identity in the region continued during the Second World War (1939-1945) and the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), both of which prompted large-scale migration from Greece to Australia and Canada during the 1950s to 1970s. Almost a quarter of a million Greeks arrived in Australia between 1947 and 1983, with 35 per cent of these migrants coming from the Macedonian region of Greece. Of these, an estimated 27,000 came from Florina (Danforth 2000:94; Gilchrist in Jupp 2001:392; Tamis 1994:xi). This thesis examines how the families of migrants who left villages in Florina in the 1950s and 1960s remember, narrate and transmit intergenerational experiences of migration and how complex ideas of home and identity have been mediated and transitioned over three generations. Drawing on interviews conducted with my extended family, it examines whether Greek Macedonian regional identity has remained relevant to the second and third generations through the narration and transmission of family migration stories. By examining the production of stories during oral history interviews, and using the framework of family and region, my thesis asks three inter-related questions. How do Greek Macedonian migrant families view themselves culturally? What importance does the telling of the family narrative play in cultural transmission and identity formation? How do second and third generation migrant children view their cultural identity? I also contrast Australian experiences in the second generation with stories from a smaller sample of second-generation family members whose parents migrated to Toronto in Canada. This investigation of family migration stories develops limited understandings of the Greek Macedonian migration experience in Australia and, in particular, intergenerational understandings of Greek Macedonian identity in the diaspora. Surveying sixty years of family settlement, the thesis highlights also the way in which families experience the impact of migration and pass on that understanding to future generations. It finds that, while it was important for first-generation participants to narrate their pre-migration story and experience, i these stories were only partially circulated within the family. It argues that, for many families, notions of an idealised Greek homeland have been disrupted by successive wars in the region. It further argues that, as a result, the third generation have constructed a sense of home and belonging focused on Australia, although many retain a desire to understand the migrant legacy and Greek Macedonian heritage. Ultimately this thesis argues that the idea of family has replaced permanent links to the Greek homeland as the key signifier of identity in these communities because of the difficulties of association with a historically turbulent region, evolving from under the Ottoman Empire into the modern Greek nation. Thus, through the narration of family stories, this thesis traces the transition of Macedonian identity as it has emerged from empire to the nation-state, and subsequently how it has been re-negotiated from a geographically regional identity to a diasporic label of identity as a result of migration. More broadly, the study contributes to international scholarship on intergenerational memory and migration as it considers how collective family memory can shape transnational notions of belonging and how family migration stories of a contested home and identity can become limited in circulation across generations. ii DECLARATION i. the thesis comprised only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated, ii. due acknowledgment has been made in the text to all other material used, iii. the thesis is no more than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In loving memory of Amalia, Anastasia, Fotini, Lazaros, Ivana, Olga, Pandos, Petros and those we have lost in Florina and Toronto For Theodoros and Zoi The words in this thesis would not be possible without the support and the generous contribution of stories from my extended family in Australia, Canada and Greece. I thank you greatly for sharing your time and your encouragement. I hope this thesis adequately reflects your wonderful contribution to our colourful and collective migration story. I am particularly grateful for the guidance, support, insight, intellect and encouragement given by my supervisors, Associate Professor Sara Wills and Professor Kate Darian-Smith throughout the crucial milestones of the thesis. I thank you for believing in this project and encouraging my passion for learning. Our meetings and discussion have been a great source of joy, and your feedback has been invaluable. My thanks also to Professor Joy Damousi for her encouragement and feedback. I have also received extensive support by the University of Melbourne, its staff and research colleagues. Travel in 2014 to Florina and Oxford was made possible through a Graduate Research in Arts Travel Scheme. I would like in particular to thank my fellow PhD traveller Melissa Afentoulis for the many hours of wonderful debate and discussion as well as Dr Ursula Ladzinski for her friendship and encouragement. To my wonderful Michael who has supported me every step of the way and listened to countless hours of trying to unravel the meaning of being Greek Macedonian. I thank you for understanding and giving me the space to work on this thesis that took so much time away from our little family. I feel truly blessed to know you. And finally, for our beautiful son McKenzie who has been fortunate to receive the gift of stories from yiayia and pappou as well as Grandpa Mac and Nan. You have also been with me every step of the way during this thesis and have spent many wonderful hours with me on campus, in the library and roaming through the university gardens. I hope these words in time will encourage you to find out more about your legacy of family trees from other places. In 1901, a pear tree was planted in Florina by Petros to honour the birth of your great grandfather Trianos. In 1872, Thomas John Barton planted an oak tree in the avenue of Marysville in Victoria to honour the birth of your great-great-great grandfather William Roger Barton but that’s another story… iv Now, you'll find a splendid grove along the road— poplars, sacred to Pallas— a bubbling spring's inside and meadows run around it. There lies my father's estate, his blossoming orchard too, as far from town as a man's strong shout can carry. Take a seat there Here luxuriant trees are always in their prime pomegranates and pears, and apples glowing red, succulent figs and olives swelling sleek and dark. And the yield of all these trees will never flag or die, neither in winter nor in summer, a harvest all year round Homer’s Odyssey v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................. i Declaration ........................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements............................................................................................................... iv Introdution: The Pear Tree .................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: The Seeds – A Greek Macedonian Diaspora ................................................... 39 Chapter Two: The Soil – The Construction of Greek Macedonian Identity in Florina ............ 56 Chapter Three The Roots – The Role of Oikeogenéia in the Narration of Migration Stories . 87 Chapter Four: The Trees – Leaving and Finding Home: Stories from the First Generation.. 114 Chapter Five: The Branches – Growing up Greek: Stories from the Second Generation ..... 147 Chapter Six: The Fruit – Greek Macedonian Legacies: Stories from the Third Generation .. 190 Conclusion: The Orchards From Scattered Seeds .............................................................. 223 Appendix: About Participants ............................................................................................ 233 List of Sources .................................................................................................................. 236 vi - INTRODUCTION - THE PEAR TREE As a second-generation migrant daughter who has grown up in Australia, when I imagine my parents’ homeland of Greece, I see in my mind the pear tree planted by my great-grandfather in 1901 to honour the birth of my grandfather. My father would often tell me how he wanted to climb the tree as a young child to be the first to pick the ripe pears. He could still remember how sweet the pears would taste. In fact, my father told me many stories about his life in Greece and as a migrant in Australia. Many of these stories were about surviving the terrifying experiences of war. Yet it was the story
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