Publication Details
Tamis, A. M. (2009). The Greek language in the Diaspora/ La langue Grecque en Diaspora. Études Helléniques, 17(1), 1-19.
Abstract
Expatriation has been a consistent theme in Greek history since the years immediately after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans (1453) until 1974, when Greece began importing economic migrants and refugees (Tamis, 2005). Greek-speaking communities and clusters of Greek presence were established throughout the world, even in the most remote places. Only recently (post-1974), Greek settlement experience from a socio-cultural and linguistic perspective became a focal point in research for national identity and immigrant studies. During the long periods of settlement in foreign lands, Greek expatriates chose to maintain their ethno-linguistic and religious identity, establishing religious communities and elementary Greek language classes. Unfortunately, since Independence (1830), and until the restoration of Democracy (1974), Greece did not possess, at government level, any language policy for the expatriated Greeks.
Keywords
Peer-reviewed
