Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 2
·
November 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
142
COMPLETED DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS
Name
: Konstantinos Ardavanis
Affiliation
: School of Anthropology and Conservaton, University of Kent, U.K.
Defended
: June 2013, University of Kent
Navigating Confined Fluidity: The Power of the 'Dash' in Greek-America
For the Greek-Americans of New York City, negotiating their identity has been at the center
of establishing their ethnic consciousness. Moving between and beyond the old-fashioned
Mediterranean values of their forefathers, the Greek-Americans of New York City constantly
weave in and out of shifting identity contexts and social platforms, continuously reimagining
their place in the world. In this thesis, I explore the various contexts within which they
construct their identity, and I try to shed some light on the ways in which they fully realize
their place in the big city. An experience of being ‘caught in the middle’, as they say
themselves, epitomizes their relationship with the hyphenated identity of the Greek-American.
At times, they try to escape from either the ‘Greek’ or the ‘American’ side of this polarity,
and in the process of this effort, their identities constantly shift, and are transformed, yet
without challenging completely the original categorical boundaries that constitute the original
hyphenated identity.
Identifiable cultural markers help Greek-Americans identify other Greek-Americans,
and such markers relate to both primordialist criteria and cultural expectations. The family
and kinship become a repository of such intimate knowledge, and further contribute into
shaping the Greek-American identity. The chapters in this thesis explore these topics
ethnographically, and illustrate how the Greek-Americans of New York City often seek to
escape from the rigidity of the past, redefining themselves both within a contemporary urban
context and with an eye toward mainland Greece. While doing this, however, the Greek-
Americans still allow their Greek: American polarity to dictate much in their lives, and often
consciously resort to the past (the prestigious Greek past) to share its symbolic capital. Thus,
they navigate within their hybrid identity, reimagining the contexts of their being within the
realms of historical constructivism, education, and religion, all the while negotiating their
position both within the realms of their Greek identity and their American experience. For the
Greek-Americans of New York City, identity has become fluid — albeit within the confines
of the Greek: American polarity — and it is within this confined fluidity that they shape their
own experiences continually drawing upon opposite ends of the spectrum to create an identity
all of their own."
Konstantinos Ardavanis’
primary research interests focus on the negotiation of identity amongst
the Greek Diaspora in the United States. His research takes into account a number of
interdisciplinary themes from family life to religion, church, education and politics. Drawing on a
careful ethnographic account, Ardavanis examines the negotiation of hybridity amongst urban
migrant communities to challenge notions surrounding creolization. Using the negotiation that the
'dash' or 'hyphen' promotes in hyphenated migrant identities as a resource or an extra set of
