Études helléniques I Hellenic Studies

GREEKS IN AUSTRALIA

Maria Herodotou *

Introduction

Diaspora forms a significant characteristic of modern world history

and it is created either by voluntary immigration of people leaving
their homeland in an effort to achieve a better life for themselves and
their families, or as a result of expulsion from their homeland because
of political reasons or conflicts. Greece has a long and complex migra­
tory record which stretches back to ancient rimes and lasting for cen­
turies. Greek diaspora played an important role and sometimes was a
determining factor in the history of the Greek nation. The immigra­
tion which occurred in modern cimes, especially after WWI , has great­
ly affected the history of Greece and has been an integral factor of the
political economic and social evolution of the modern Greek state and
modern Greek society. It has also affected the formation of the socie­
ties of the host countries such as USA, Germany, Australia and
Canada by enriching them demographically, socially, economically,
politically and culturally (Vryonis 1 993: 12).

The number of Greek immigrants is massive. It is estimated thac one

third of the encire Greek population (between 3-4.5 million Greeks)
lives outside the geographical boundaries of the Greek state (Hasiotes
1993 : 1 1 - 1 2) . Despite their numerical power, however, Greeks remain
minority groups and thus try to survive and preserve their ethnie, reli­
gious and cultural identity using various means and creating trans­
state relations. This attempt to fight against assimilation is very impor­
tant for the diaspora itself, the country of origin and the host country.
The Greek diaspora sustains its identity through community organi­
sations, culture, religion and language.

In Australia, a country which belongs to the "New Worlds" with a

predominandy Anglo-Saxon culture and language, lives an important

• La Trobc Universiry, Melbourne

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 Études helléniques I Hellenic Studies

part of the modern Greek diaspora. The first Greeks were sent to
Australia as convicts by the English courts in 1 829. Voluntary immi­
gration started in the 1 850's during the "Gold rush". Throughout the
1 9th century, however, the number of Greeks immigrating to
Australia was very limited. Those who arrived in this continent came
mainly from the islands and did not intent to stay permanendy. Their
aim was to acquire wealth and return to Greece, 1 so the number of
Greek immigrants in Australia up until 1 9 0 1 was only 977 people
(Harvey 1 988). Massive immigration ta Australia occurred after
WWII, specifically in the 1 960's, because of the destruction that
Greece suffered during the German occupation and the civil war
which followed and because of the immigration programmes applied
by Australia.2 The post-war immigration rapidly increased the number
of Greeks who formed organized communities and transformed com­
munity life.3 Today, the number of Greeks in Australia is esrimated
between 375 000- 420 000.4 For most of them Australia offered secu­
rity, social stabiliry and opportunities for economic or persona! suc­
cess. Vryonis argues chat the peculiarities of the Anglo-Saxon institu­
tions fitted the highly individualistic and regionally oriented trades of
the Greek sociery. He supports the view that many Greek
characteristics such as self governance, self-family-cultural prides, the
strong desire for education, persona! initiative, and self improvement
found rich, legal and corporate underpinnings in the Anglo-Saxon
legal and political system (Vryonis 1993: 1 3- 14) . Thus, although the
first Greeks in Australia experienced hardships, alienation and at times
a hostile environment, gradually overcame the initial problems of their
migration, they acquired material rewards and moved up on the social
and economic ladder. They integrated successfully into the Australian
community by accepting and influencing its way of life. At the same
time they tried to sustain their distinct ethnie identity by developing
ethnie community structures. However, even today in multicultural
Australia, where ethnie diversity is officially recognized, they remain
part of the "other", the "ethnics".5 In their own communities their
leaders are entirely first generation Greeks whilst the participation of
the second generation is almost non existent. The result is thar they
try ta preserve a culture that existed in the society they left behind at

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the cime of their migration. As Mary Kalantzis argues, to be a Greek

in Australia is not simply a matter of maintaining the culture of the
homeland. "le is a dialogue between tradition and changing social
context; berween historical experience and visions of the future. In
rhis dialogue, the dominant culture and the culture of 'ethnie com­
munity' are always reshaping and redefining each other" (1 997:30).
Looking at Hellenism from an Australian perspective, she stresses the
need of development of a posmarionalist sense of common purpose
where the oppositions of Ausrralian/ dominant versus Greek/ margi­
nal are abolished and both cultures are recognized as equal ( 1 997:3 1).

This volume aims ro analytically explore aspects of the setdement of

Greeks in Australia where they form a significant community,
paroikia. The knowledge developed through these papers will enable
us ro understand and re-evaluate the past, as well as further reflect cri­
tically on our future prospects in this country. Ir helps us to under­
stand not only the Greek history and culture, but also thar of Australia
because of the cultural exchange between the two communities and
the formation of an ethnically diverse society. The interest Ausrralia
has is reflecred in its policies such as the policy of multiculturalism.
The latter was introduced in an effort to socially and culturally accom­
modate the different ethnie groups that exist in this country.
Furthermore, the knowledge of the past and present will help us
understand our strengths and weaknesses in maintaining our ethnie
identity and interacting with the wider Australian community. As we
move from the first ro the second, third and succeeding generations
we must redefine our erhnicity and develop new strategies for its con­
tinuity.

There are a number of papers included in rhis volume which have

approached the subject Greeks in Australia from different perspectives
such as: the hisrory and setdement of Greeks in Australia; issues of
identity; education; literature; policics. Ail perspectives are interrela­
red and interwoven. They have to do with the presence of this
diasporic group in Australia, its attempts for integration into the wider
Australian community and at the same time its srruggle to maintain
its ethnie and cultural identity and survive into the new millennium.

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1. History of the Greek Immigration in Australia

This first section deals with the history of Greek immigration in

Australia. Anastasios M. Tamis's paper gives an account of the pre­
WWII period. lt refers to the Australian migration and settlement
policies, their characteristics and to the formation of a culturally
diverse society. lt continues with reference to the problems and the
achievements of the Greeks as well as to their impact on government
policy formulation and implementation. Finally, he expresses the view
that due to their economic prosperity, professional achievement and
successful social adherence, large numbers of Greek migrants and their
children were accepted by the wider Australian community. The emer­
gence of second generation as successful professionals, technocrats,
public administrators, merchants and business persans gave the Greek
community prominence and seriously affected the entire society.

Christos Fifis's paper gives aspects of the Post-World War II Greek

Australian community. He discusses the causes of Post-WWII migra­
tion; experiences of Greek migrants and problems of settling in; the
development of the organized Community and relevant issues; the
Greek language media and the dispute between Church­
Communities. He concludes with a brief discussion on the contribu­
tion of the Greek community to the Australian multicultural society
and its possible future prospects.

II. Issues of Identity

In her paper Gillian Bottomley analyses the acnvmes of several

Greek Australians who demonstrate the 'connectedness' of social rela­
tions, of living across difference in a multicultural society. Sorne of the
themes discussed are: the participation of women and the elderly,
intercultural activities, studies of institutional racism, and of the con­
sequences of multicultural policies. She also refers to the achievements
of Greek Australians in the arts, as a means of 'conversation' between
generations and ethnocultures. She argues that this narrative know­
ledge increasingly caracterizes public discourse reflecting a heteroge­
neous Australian society.

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Études helléniques I Hellenic Studies

Vrasidas Karalis critically examines the general weltanschauung of

the Greek Australian intellectual and academic community, and
argues that they failed to construct concrete cultural symbols which
would express the mixed social reality they live in. He expresses the
view that the trauma of immigration never became a political force
and was restricted to the narrow perception of a self-excluded com­
munity which believed in the superiority of its language and its cul­
ture. Only few people succeeded in establishing new perceptions of
identity and therefore symbols of collective recognition. The paper
ends by mentioning the political factors which contribuced to the cre­
ative immobility of the Greek-Australian community and to the
absence of a political counter-proposal to the hegemonic Anglo-Celtic
cultural paradigm.

In his paper Stathis Gauntlett examines the issue of Hellenic identi­

ty from a different perspective. He explores some signal instances of
Greek songs functioning in the contestation of cultural identity in
Australia by reference to three significant musical events of the l 990s.
He explains why, whereas in metropolitan Greece the "rebetomania"
of the l 980s has abated to the extent that it is nowadays viewed as an
historical curiosity, the dynamics of ethnie self-assertion and multi-·
cultural bricolage seem set to ensure its continuing prominence of the
genre in the Antipodes.

III. Education

Nicholas Ganzis in his paper presents an analysis of the achieve­

ments of the Greek community in the area of Greek education and
suggests what else needs to be done to ensure the continuation of
Hellenism in South Australia. His view is that although Greeks in
South Australia believed strongly in the role of Churches and their
community schools to pass down to succeeding generarions their cul­
ture and traditions, they proved to be inadequate in ensuring the
maintenance and promotion of the Greek language and
Hellenic values.

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IY. Literature

Con Castan examines the ongms of the term Greek-Australian

Licerature and its fonction. He relates the cerm with politics, natio­
nalist multiculturalism, group identity, minority literatures and
national literature. He concludes that Greek-Australian licerature,
though but one of many minority literatures, has probably been the
one that has gained most critical attention and been the most succes­
sful in the above terms.

John Vasilakakos in his paper examines the most essential theore­

tical and practical problems and problematizations which arise in the
srudy of Modern Greek Literature of the Diaspora and gives a concise
profile of Greek-Australian Literature. He argues that Greek-speaking
literature has been one of the most dynamic minority literatures of
Australia. However, despite its boom, the cessation of large-scale
migration and the passing away of first generation Greek migrants,
Greek-Australian literature has been shrinking continuously. He
believes that English-speaking wricers of Greek origin play a leading
role in the development of mainstream Australian literature and many
of them are in the forefront of the Australian literary scene. He con­
cludes that furrher research is needed in the field.

Leo Papademetre in his paper explores the 'contemporariness' of

Hellenic drama internationally. He expresses the view that the ever­
contemporary need to keep examining our theatre tradition has
become the focus of many drama practitioners who re-evaluate our
worldly perceptions through the performing arts. The Hellenic
Srudies section of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, recogni­
zing the importance of theatre, has been encouraging and fostering
research and study of Hellenic theatre culture and its evolution with
the assistance of the performing collective FRAGMENTS. The col­
lective provides a cross-fertilizing 'space' for performers to resource the
energies of their persona! and collective bicultural and bilingual expe­
rience, (dis)placed and diasporic in nature. He gives examples of some
of the collective's projects which are based on fragments of texts by
Aischylos, Sophokles, Euripides, Marguerite Yourcenar, Heiner
Müller, Aristophanes and Ionesco.

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Études helléniques / Hellenic Studies

George Kanarakis approaches his subject from an Australian per­

spective. He examines literary works by contemporary Australian wri­
ters to ascertain how Greeks and Greek culture are portrayed. He pays
particular attention to the change in the mentality and attitudes of the
society, and in what ways this change is reflected in literature. Thus li­
terature is discussed within its socio-cultural context. He believes that
the externalized images and impressions which the body of Australian
literature contains will influence, to some extent, the perceptions and
possibly even the attitudes of its reading public towards Greeks and
Greek culture.

In her paper Maria Herodotou refers ro the immigration of the

Greek Cypriots in Australia and examines how Greek writers of
Cypriot descent identify themselves with Greece, Cyprus and
Australia as a place and as a culture. The writers are distinguished into
three broad categories depending on the language they use (English,
Greek & English, Greek). She believes that, although the use of lan­
guage is not the most important factor of their identity, it is an indi­
cation of the extent of their connection to a particular place. The
examination of the texts reveals rhat for some writers the bicultural
identity creates a tension or even a conflict whilst others are more at
ease with rheir Greek identity, rhey develop a nostalgia for Cyprus and
try to recreate or reconstruct, in a painful way, the place and its cul­
ture. She concludes that for all writers, Greece and Hellenism become
a conceptual world and that the expression of their identity is a con­
stant process.

V. Politics

In his paper, Michalis Michael discusses the Cyprus issue in

Australian polirics with particular reference to the federal parliament.
The paper daims that the Cyprus issue occupies a visible position
within Australian politics which under normal circumstances would
have been treated as marginal, due to the role that the Greek­
Australian community has played especially since 1974. Furthermore,
it daims that the formation of an Australian policy on Cyprus rests on
the capacity of the Greek-Australian community to act as an interest

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group within a pluralist political environment. Australia, however, can

not undertake a substantive role in the conflict because the issue is not
relevant to Australia's immediate national interest and sphere of influ­
ence.

T he paper also examines how and to what extent the Cyprus issue
in Australia has been determined by the triatic relationship between
the Greek-Australian community (diaspora), the host country
(Australia), and the home country (Greece and Cyprus).

NOTES

1. Details about the immigration and settlement of Greeks in

Australia during the last century and up unti WWII, see Gilchrist,
1 992 and 1 997 and Tamis 1 997.
2. About the causes of immigration from Greece as well as about the
immigration programmes created by various countries including
Australia, see: Hasiotes 1 993: 1 27- 1 52 and Vgenopoulos 1 985.
3. For the formation of the Greek Community since the 1 8 80's, see
Tsounis 1 993.
4. The number is based on the 1 996 census. See also Fifis 1997 and
Hasiotes 1993.
5. For the relationship between multiculturalism and ethnie Greek
identity, between dominant/mainstream and marginal/ethnie cul­
ture, see Kalantzis 1 997.

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Études helléniques I Hellenic Studies

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