Diaspora, identity and cinematic memory : a case study of Greek diasporic cinemagoing in rural Australia

This thesis investigates the role of popular Greek film and the cinema space in which they were viewed, in the lives of rural Greek diasporic audiences in Whyalla, South Australia, between 1958 and 1978. It does this through the research questions: what was the significance of Greek film, and the significance of the cinema space for this audience? While Deb Verhoeven (2011) has explored the distribution of Greek film in Melbourne, Australia, the role of popular Greek film in the lives of diasporic audiences, and the significance of the cinema spaces in which they were consumed, remains unexplored in scholarly film and cinema history. This thesis addresses this gap with its case study of intergenerational Greek-Australian audiences from Whyalla and their memories of watching Greek films. The research aims were to determine the ways in which audiences used the films and the cinema space, and to explore the meaning films and the cinema space had for this audience. The objectives involved collecting the audience's oral history, and analysing their testimonies inductively, using mixed qualitative and quantitative data analysis, alongside Daniela Treveri Gennari and Silvia Dibeltulo’s (2023) film taxonomy framework. Significant results from this bottom-up analysis were extrapolated, and interpretations of these findings were guided by Donald Winnicott’s (1953) object relations theory, and Avtah Brah’s (1996) theory of diaspora space, to contribute fresh dimensions on the role of film and the cinema space within the lived experience of audiences. The findings indicate popular Greek film and Whyalla’s cinema space were enormously significant intergenerationally, particularly in relation to the audience’s navigation of diasporic identity, and their sense of belonging and wellbeing, within the context of The White Australia Policy’s assimilationist ideologies. The Whyalla case study, as explored in this thesis, may have broader applicability to a range of other contexts, both within and beyond Australia.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• McWilliams, Nektaria

Contributors dc:contributor

• Treveri Gennari, Daniela
• Russo, Paolo

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/h4y0-6590

OAI identifier oai:identifier

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