Πώς άσωμεν επί γης αλλοτρίας; Greek Song and Identity “Down-under”

Abstract

The question “How shall Greeks sing in a strange land?” is a contentious issue with a strong bearing upon the definition of Hellenic identity. This article explores some signal instances of Greek songs functioning as a site for the contestation of cultural identity in Australia by reference to the musical events in the decade 1990: the first, a concert held in 1993 which presented the audience of the Greek community of Melbourne with a sample of musical talent; the second, an Athenian journalist’s report on the visit of Nikos Xydakis and his ensemble in Australia, which reveals a level of condescension of colonialist dimensions in the attitude of some metropolitan Greeks towards the Greek diaspora; and finally, the complaint against the infatuation for the Greek oriental music which followed a visit markedly non successful of a Greek ensemble of classical music in Melbourne in 1996. Although the “rebetomania” of the 1980s has abated in metropolitan Greece to the extent that it is nowadays viewed as an historical curiosity, the dynamics of ethnic self-assertion and multicultural bricolage seem set to ensure its continuing prominence in the Antipodes. Would-be engineers of the musical tastes of the Greek diaspora would do well to seek to understand the political, social and economic context of paradoxes such as those outlined above by acquainting themselves with some well documented Australian research before dispensing high-handed solutions to presumed problem.