Contested Identity: Macedonians in Contemporary Australia
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CONTESTED IDENTITY: MACEDONIANS IN CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIA CHRIS NAJDOVSKI Department of Social and Cultural Studies Faculty of Arts Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts October, 1997 THESIS 305.891819094 NAJ 30001004896058 Najdovski, ico (Chris) Lontested identity • Abstract As argued in this thesis, a Macedonian-Australian identity is an elusive and evolving category. Nonetheless, the various Macedonian-Australian institutions and organisations, as well as the activities that they perform, described in this thesis, give definition and shape to a distinctive Macedonian identity. The thesis argues that Macedonian identity is not fixed, but is the product of lived experience and engagement with the issues that confront them in the modern context. This identity is not a static fusion of discrete 'traditional' and 'modern' identities, which come together to constitute another (composite) self-contained identity. Rather, the Macedonian-Australian identity is viewed as representing dynamic processes of 'negotiation' between various cross-cutting trajectories, that are constructed in response to changing social and cultural circumstances. The thesis describes these processes as they are enacted in the Australian context, including the contestation of Macedonian identity that was part of what has come to be known as 'the Greek- Macedonian debate'. The thesis argues that Macedonians draw on their historic heritage and culture, as well as on elements that are part of their lives in Australia, in order to construct an evolving identity unlike any other. The thesis also poses some important questions about the future development of a tolerant and democratic multicultural policy for Australia. 2 CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgements CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO: THE PROBLEM OF CONTESTED IDENTITY 17 The Macedonian Land 18 A Brief Outline of Macedonian History 19 Macedonia under the Romans 20 Saints Cyril and Methodious 21 Macedonia Under the Turks 22 The Division of Macedonia 24 Assimilation and Colonisation in Divided Macedonia 26 Aegean Macedonia Vardar Macedonia Pirin Macedonia The Creation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonian in 1944 30 The Macedonian Language 33 The Making and Unmaking of Yugoslavia 39 The Independent Republic of Macedonia 42 CHAPTER THREE: THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF MACEDONIAN LIFE IN AUSTRALIA 45 Macedonian Migration to Australia 45 Constructing and Locating Community Relationships 51 Macedonian Family Life 60 Macedonian Leaders and Community Structures 75 The Macedonian Orthodox Church 83 CHAPTER FOUR: MACEDONIAN COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 91 Macedonian Theatre in Australia 91 The Australian-Macedonian Theatre "BlagojaNeskovski" The Australian-Macedonian Drama Group Macedonian Theatre Group "Boomerang" The Macedonian Women's Choir 114 The Australian-Macedonian Human Rights Committee 115 The Macedonian Press 118 3 Australian Macedonian Weekly Today-Denes Cultural and Artistic Associations 125 Macedonian Soccer Clubs 126 Macedonian Organisations and Identity 129 CHAPTER FIVE: THE MACEDONIANS DEFEND THEIR RIGHTS IN AUSTRALIA 131 What is Multiculturalism? 131 The Macedonian Language - Wollongong Study 1986 135 The Demonstration at La Trobe University 140 The 5 February 1988 Demonstration 143 The Reaction of the Academics 147 The Greek Bicentennial 'Gift' 150 Macedonian Independence and 'The Name Problem' 156 The 1992 Demonstration 160 Australia's 'Recognition' of Macedonia and and The Problem of the 'Slav' Prefix 167 The Violence of March 1994 172 The Reactions of the Greek and Macedonian Communities 177 CHAPTER SIX: THE CRISIS OF 1994 187 The Wollongong Demonstration 188 The Canberra Rally 189 The Demonstration in Sydney 190 The 'Anti-Discrimination March' in Melbourne 191 The Media 195 The Role of Victoria's Premier Jeff Kennett 199 Jeff Kennett's Renaming of the Macedonian Language 203 The Issue of Australian Passports 210 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION 213 BIBLIOGRAPHY 217 OTHER SOURCES 223 4 Acknowledgements I have incurred a great many debts in the course of researching this thesis. I would like to acknowledge the help of all those who provided me with the opportunities that made this thesis possible. In particular, I would like to thank my supervisors Professor Robert Pascoe and Professor Ron Adams, as well as Dr Fred Klarberg, from Victoria University, for their support and guidance during an arduous and demanding process that a thesis such as this inevitably entails. I would also like to thank the many people from the Macedonian community of Australia who shared most generously with me their lives and provided me with the opportunities to observe and participate in so many of the activities that are described in this thesis. I want to acknowledge the help of Dr Chris Popov, Dr Mile Terzievski, Roseta Stoikovska, Michael Radin, the Very Reverent Spase Stefanovski, Risto Altin, Tanas Krlevski, Margarita Vasileva, Silvana Pavlovska, Krste Naumovski and the management committee members of the many Macedonian organisations. I would also like to extend a special thank you to Erik Lloga for so generously sharing ideas with me, and to his family for their hospitality and patient support. Last but not least, I want to acknowledge the very great support that I have received from my wife, Suzana Najdovska, my children, Valentina, Robert and Petra, and my parents, Vasil and Pera, who supported me more than they will ever know. 5 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION As argued in this thesis, a 'Macedonian-Australian' identity is, in many respects, an elusive category. Nonetheless, the various Macedonian-Australian institutions and organisations described in this thesis do give definition and shape to a disinctive identity. As Homi Bhabha has indicated, such an identity is not fixed, but is the product of lived experience and cultural engagement, or as he puts it, 'whether antagonistic or affiliative' such identities 'are produced performatively' and should not be 'hastily read as the reflection of a pre-given ethnic or cultural traits set in the fixed tablet of tradition' (Bhabha 1994:2). From this viewpoint, it would be a mistake to regard Macedonian-Australian identity as static, in terms of a static or fixed cultural model and in terms of viewing it as a fusion of discrete 'traditional ' and 'modern' identities, which come together to constitute another (composite) self-contained identity. Rather, such identities should be seen as representing dynamic processes of negotiation between various cross-cutting social and cultural trajectories, and are constructed in response to changing social and cultural circumstances. The identities that are produced in this process are always positioned in specific contexts and are, in Stuart Hall's terms (1988), 'positionalities'. It is these processes that are implicated in the construction of the sense of self (Adams 1995; see also Hall 1988:44-6). In the ongoing construction of narratives of self and selfhood, produced in interaction with given social and cultural contexts, particular positionalities will be enunciated. These enunciated positionalities represent choices, in the sense that they emphasise or 6 privilege particular positionalities vis-a-vis other possible positionalities. But, such choices are always placed in context. As Stuart Hall has observed, in this context, [Ejvery identity is placed, positioned, in a culture, a language, a history. Every statement comes from somewhere, from somebody in particular. It insists on specificity, on conjuncture. But it is not necessarily armour-plated against other identities (Hall 1988:44-6). Thus, following Homi Bhabha and Stuart Hall, we might say that that the Macedonian-Australian identity is 'placed' or 'positioned' within a culture, a history, which represents a dynamic process of choices made within specific social and cultural contexts and times. As this thesis documents, 'Macedonian-Australians' are engaged in an ongoing process of constructing and defending a distinctive cultural identity unlike any other. In accord with this, we would have to say that the Macedonian-Australian identity is constructed in engagement with both the culture at 'home' and the culture(s) of Australia. Finally, as this thesis documents, we would have to say that the Macedonian-Australian identity, conceived as positionality, is enunciated performatively, that is, through discrete and concrete actions performed by specific individuals and groups and are, therefore, embodied (Berger & Luckman 1966). Accordingly, Macedonian-Australian identity or positionality is enunciated performatively in the form of identifiable actions and activities, performed by concrete individuals and groups of people. And it is these performative enunciations, to use Bhabha's term, that this thesis documents. 7 The significance of the experience of the Macedonians in Australia that this thesis describes needs to be seen as placed 'in context', that is, within a particular history, time and conjuncture. It shares common ground with many other communities, such as the position that confronts other diaspora communities, for example, the Kurds, the Ukrainians and others, who share an additional feature, namely, the fact that their 'homes' are newly emerging nations in west Asia and Europe. The common ground that is shared by members of all of these and other communities, with that of the Macedonian community in Australia is the particular position they occupy between the place of origin and their place in their adopted