www.ssoar.info Narratives of place, culture and identity: second- generation Greek-Americans return 'home' Christou, Anastasia Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Dissertation / phd thesis Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Christou, A. (2006). Narratives of place, culture and identity: second-generation Greek-Americans return 'home'. (IMISCoe Dissertations). Amsterdam: Amsterdam Univ. Press. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-329816 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz This document is made available under a CC BY-NC-ND Licence (Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung) zur (Attribution-Non Comercial-NoDerivatives). For more Information Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de Narratives of Place, Culture and Identity IMISCOE (International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion) IMISCOE is a European Commission-funded Network of Excellence of more than 350 scientists from various research institutes that specialise in migration and integration issues in Europe. These researchers, who come from all branches of the economic and social sciences, the huma- nities and law, implement an integrated, multidisciplinary and interna- tionally comparative research program that focuses on Europe’s migra- tion and integration challenges. Within the program, existing research is integrated and new re- search lines are developed that involve issues crucial to European-level policy-making and provide a theory-based design to implement new re- search. The publication program of IMISCOE is based on five distinct publication profiles, designed to make its research and results available to scien- tists, policymakers and the public at large. High-quality manuscripts written by IMISCOE members, or in cooperation with IMISCOE members, are published in these five series. An Editorial Committee coordinates the review process of the manuscripts. The five series are: 1. Joint Studies 2. Research 3. Dissertations 4. Reports 5. Textbooks More information on the network can be found at: www.imiscoe.org IMISCOE Dissertations include dissertations of IMISCOE members. There are more than 100 Ph.D. candidates in the various affiliated institu- tions working on doctoral research within the IMISCOE framework. Narratives of Place, Culture and Identity Second-Generation Greek-Americans Return ‘Home’ Anastasia Christou IMISCOE Dissertations Cover design: Studio Jan de Boer BNO, Amsterdam Layout: Fito Prepublishing, Almere ISBN-13 978 90 5356 878 1 ISBN-10 90 5356 878 6 NUR 741 / 763 © Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2006 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright re- served above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or in- troduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. To all the migrants and refugees whose tears soothe the grounds I walk on and whose smiles give colour and light to my journeys… I still have the hope that resistance will no doubt, one day, set us all free to new awakenings and faded dreams… Table of contents Acknowledgements 9 A note on transliteration 14 1 Introduction 15 1.1 Narrating diasporic migrancy – conceptualising ethnic ancestral ‘return’ migration 15 1.2 Entering the field – processing the fieldwork experience 19 1.3 Documenting the ethnographic textualisation of the narration of migrancy and identity 28 2 Situating and theorising national and ethnic expressions of place, culture and identity 31 2.1 Locating the topos: exploring place 32 2.2 Cultural representations: the (trans)national and the diasporic 37 2.3 Signifying the self: identity discourse 41 2.4 The arena of discussion: place, culture and identity as signifiers of the migrant sense of home, return and self 45 3 The Greek-American experience: emigration, settlement, return and identity 47 3.1 The Greek-American Diaspora: a brief historical review 47 3.2 Patterns of settlement 50 3.2.1 Hostland practices: integration, assimilation, organisations 50 3.2.2 Homeland practices: family, language, religion 53 3.3 Theorisation of return migration 55 3.4 Motives of return, problems of integration: the desired and the possible in the country of origin 60 3.5 Effects on the returnees, their families and the country of return 61 3.6 Journeys, memories and praxis: space, place, cultural landscapes and the personal plan of action 63 4 Ideologies of home and geographies of place 65 4.1 The ancestral return: searching for a homeplace in the homeland 68 4.2 Place is home: constructions of placeness and homeness 83 8 NARRATIVES OF PLACE, CULTURE AND IDENTITY 4.3 Narrating the home in the national: stories of ‘home’ at home 106 4.4 Summing up 119 5 Ideologies of return and geographies of culture 121 5.1 Home is the return: constructions of belongingness 122 5.2 The geography of return: writing the cultural world of returnees 137 5.3 Narrating the return in the ethnocultural space: stories of the ‘patrida’ upon return 157 5.4 Summing up 161 6 Ideologies of self and geographies of identity 165 6.1 Constructing and negotiating identities 167 6.1.1 Class, gender 169 6.1.2 Networks, organisations 184 6.1.3 Immigration, ethnicity 190 6.1.4 Memory, global events 194 6.2 ‘Transhybrid’ identities: transformations and transitions within traditions 200 6.3 Narrating the self upon finding the home: stories of ‘who we are’ in the ‘where we are’ 207 6.4 Summing up 211 7 Conclusions 215 7.1 A three dimensional ideology: the return as a construction of place-culture-identity 215 7.2 So, who then is this Greek-American return migrant? 218 7.3 Reflecting on the future: considerations for further research on diasporas new and old 219 7.4 Revisiting reflections: mapping return migration, tracing place, mirroring identity, refiguring home, reframing belonging 220 7.4.1 Methodology 220 7.4.2 Home and identification 223 7.4.3 Between cultural fields and social spaces 225 7.5 Epilogue 227 Notes 231 Appendix 241 Bibliography 245 Acknowledgements The genesis of the research project that this book is based on can be traced back in time and space to several multilocal and multicultural experiences that encapsulate imprints of memories, thoughts, conver- sations and questions in a life of diaspora, in both its academic and everyday facets. This book involves many stages of my own ‘migrant- hood’ and an evolving process that explores issues that have been both fascinating and troubling over the years but always of great impor- tance. This manuscript is the product of over a decade’s challenging work, and I have been extremely fortunate that many friends and col- leagues shared my agonies, stimulated my thinking, inspired my writ- ing and above all provided continuous support and generous assis- tance. This is a group of people from several countries whose contribu- tions to this book have been fundamental. But first and foremost to my parents and brother, migrants them- selves, return migrants of different generations but similar reasons, I am grateful for all your emotional support and love. Thank you for be- lieving in me, respecting and tolerating my dreams, decisions and life choices and always having to pay the price of missing me. I know I wasn’t there where you were most of the time but you were always with me. From the very beginning of my research, the unconditional help, friendship, love, patience, support and guidance of Dr. D. Mentzenio- tis, which constantly increased as my fears and anxieties reached ‘dan- gerously’ high peaks, are clearly more than any utopian idealised Pla- tonic perspective could capture but nonetheless coming from an in- credible philosopher and person. Thank you for generously sharing your genius with me, abundantly providing honesty, a wealth of re- search material, time and timeless wisdom. I will never be the same since I met you…! I am also greatly indebted to the numerous people who have accom- panied and guided me throughout my research journey. My supervisor at the University of Sussex, Professor Russell King, who guided my doctoral research so expertly; I owe my warmest gratitude for his valu- able feedback, comments and suggestions that have shaped my re- search and study and made it possible to develop into a complete the- 10 NARRATIVES OF PLACE, CULTURE AND IDENTITY sis. His constant presence – at the University and at a distance – his patience, support, stimulating contributions and his trust in me went beyond anything I could have possibly wished for. Through his work he introduced me to the richness of geography and migration studies and instilled in me an appreciation for interdisciplinary perspectives. I will always be inspired by his example of engagement with the subject matter, the breadth of his knowledge and scholarship, the quality of his research and above all his modesty and integrity. I shall forever be in- debted to him. I am grateful to Professor Richard Black and the academic commit- tee for selecting me and offering me a prestigious Marie Curie Re- search Fellowship in Migration Studies as part of the Migration and Asylum Research Training Initiative of the Sussex Centre for Migration Research. Professor Black’s support has been instrumental and highly appreciated. My fellowship at the University of Sussex was an excep- tional academic experience. Many colleagues and fellow researchers generously offered their time and friendship. The list is long and I am genuinely grateful to all. Special thanks go to Jenny Money and Clare Rogers who always saved the day, no matter how challenging it was! To Nayla Mourkabel and Antigoni Papanikolaou, thanks for their support, love, understanding, patience, generous hospitality and making the friendship last beyond Brighton.