Language and Culture issue 21 June 2012

This issue
Language and Culture
• From the Head of School
• My Holocaust Odyssey
Language and Culture is the quarterly electronic magazine of the School of Languages
and Cultures in the Faculty of Arts at Sydney University. It explores current issues in
the field of languages and cultures and provides updates on the activities of the School.
• Letter from Milos
• Selected Publications
• SLC Prizes Night 2012
• School and Department News
issue 21 June 2012
head of school
Professor Jeffrey Riegel
As the first semester of 2012 is drawing to a close, I want to thank my academic
colleagues in the School as well as our general support staff for their continuing
devotion to our teaching and research mission. A recent reminder of our successes
in teaching came a few nights ago when we celebrated at our Prizes Night the
accomplishments of our best students and recognized those who have trained
them. Readers of the current issue of this newsletter will see on our publications
page some of the evidence of the high-quality outcomes of the research conducted
by our academics. That what we do registers as important in the larger community
is demonstrated by the donations that make the Prizes Night possible as well as
by the attendance at the celebration by representatives from the Sydney consular
corps. I was honoured and privileged to welcome consular representatives from
Austria, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Korea, as well as representative from
other cultural institutions in the Sydney area. We in the School thank them as well
our many generous donors.
To pursue their research many of my colleagues will take advantage of the short
break between semesters to travel abroad—to Europe, North America, and
various parts of Asia—to work in libraries and archives or engage in other forms
of fieldwork. I hope they all travel well. For my part, I will spend a week in July
continuing to explore the recent reemergence of traditional Chinese religious
practices in rural Cambodia. Toward the end of the month I plan to be in Tianshui
county, in China’s northwestern province of Gansu, tracing the ancient origins
of the Qin empire. I look forward to learning of my colleagues’ experiences and
sharing my own when the new semester begins.
June 2012
Features...
My Holocaust Odyssey:
A Journey from Sydney via the World to Magdeburg
Dr Michael Abrahams-Sprod, Department of Hebrew Biblical and Jewish Studies
Historians tend not to think of their craft as encompassing
a journey, but as this historian discovered, a project which
commenced as a PhD, took on a life of its own and led to many
places, many experiences and the coming together of many
people.
My personal journey, a ‘Holocaust’ odyssey which began as a PhD, has now
metamorphosed into a highly-acclaimed book in German, with preparations
already underway for the English edition. This story charts the history of the
nearly 1,000 year old Jewish community of Magdeburg on the River Elbe in
central Germany during the Nazi period – but with a difference – and it is this
very poignant difference which is driving the success of the book in Germany.
The PhD and the book, which, in fact, is a revised and updated version of
the dissertation, uniquely for its time combines both oral history interviews
personally conducted by the author and archival material. The result is a rich,
Last group photo of the pupils of the „Judenschule“ in Magdeburg at a sporting event in the
field adjacent to the Jewish cemetery. The teacher, Hermann Spier, is seated, middle left of
centre, wearing sunglasses, Magdeburg, Summer 1939.
My Holocaust Odyssey
personal and very dramatic history of everyday life
of Magdeburg Jewry under Nazism from ‘below’
and from an essentially Jewish perspective. Of
equal importance is the fact that this is the first
academic study of this community, a community
which is one of the oldest in Germany, and,
indeed, in Europe.
With the PhD (Life under Siege: The Jews
of Magdeburg under Nazi Rule) completed,
submitted in 2006 and awarded in 2007, my former
co-supervisor, and now colleague and friend,
Professor Konrad Kwiet, encouraged me to have
the dissertation translated into German and to
secure its publication in Magdeburg, if possible.
This subsequently occurred and in November
2011 the launch of the German edition took place
in Magdeburg, with the German edition entitled:
“Und dann warst du auf einmal ausgestoßen!” Die
Magdeburger Juden während der NS-Herrschaft.
(top) Interior of the Synagogen-Gemeinde zu
Magdeburg, 1938. (above) Destroyed interior
after the pogrom of November 1938.
As can be well imagined, I was both relieved and
excited to see the book in print, but was quite
overwhelmed at my reception and the reception
of the book in November. During this period of
the launch, I spent three weeks in Magdeburg.
As a frequent visitor to Magdeburg over many
years, I was well known and during each visit
gave innumerable addresses, presentations
and workshops. However, on this occasion, with
the book now a reality – the media attention
was constant. Television and radio interviews
Gerry (Gerhard) Levy, standing, last on the right, with a
group of friends, Nieheim, Westphalia, 1937.
were conducted and put to air and the print and
internet media gave both the book and myself
much attention. The constant and very powerful
and gratifying theme was that I had given the city
a most important gift – the story of what it was
like for the city’s approximate 2,000 Jews under
Nazism.
It was during my time in Magdeburg in November
when e-mailing my former co-supervisor, and now
colleague and friend, Professor Suzanne Rutland
OAM, that she remarked to me, that the book
was one thing, but that the journey along the way
was also its own unique entity. Ironically, perhaps
naively, I had assumed that with the publication
of the book, that I would achieve closure and this
Photograph celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of George Mannings
(Günter Manneberg), Magdeburg, 15 June 1935. This
photograph includes members of the Herrmann, Manneberg
and Wandow families, who were all related.
Dr Michael Abrahams-Sprod, BA (UNSW), Grad
Dip Ed (UNSW), Cert T (NSW DSE), MA (UNSW),
PhD (Sydney) is an historian, linguist, author and
an educator at the secondary, tertiary and adult
education levels. He currently occupies an executive
position at a Sydney high school and is qualified to
teach French, German, Russian and History. Michael
also holds part-time teaching positions in Jewish
History and Holocaust Studies with the Department of
Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at The University
of Sydney and with the School of Humanities at The
University of New South Wales. Michael is also a
regular teacher and lecturer at The Shalom Institute
and North Shore Temple Emanuel, Chatswood and
has taught the Melton program and its graduate
program ‘Mosaic’ since 2001; is Head of Education
in B’nai B’rith’s ‘Courage to Care’ program; President
of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies; and
worked as a volunteer in numerous educational
capacities at the Sydney Jewish Museum for fifteen
years. In June 2007 Michael was awarded the title
of Honorary Associate in the Faculty of Arts at The
University of Sydney.
1933 konnte die jüdische Gemeinde Magdeburgs mit ihren
knapp 2.000 Mitgliedern auf eine rund tausendjährige Geschichte zurückblicken. Nach zwölf Jahren NS-Diktatur gab
es kaum mehr als 20 Juden in der Stadt. Michael E. Abrahams-Sprod dokumentiert unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der jüdischen Perspektive das Schicksal der Juden in
diesem Zeitraum. Er zeigt das vitale Leben der Gemeinschaft
vor 1933, ihre dann stetige Ausgrenzung und Verfolgung bis
hin zur Deportation der in Magdeburg verbliebenen Juden in
den 40er Jahren.
The recipient of numerous local and international
awards and scholarships, Michael has also published
widely on German-Jewish history and has presented
papers, conducted research, lectured and taught both
Michael E. Abrahams-Sprod
„Und dann warst du
auf einmal ausgestoßen!“
Die Magdeburger Juden
während der NS-Herrschaft
mitteldeutscher verlag
would end this phase of my life. However, I had
not considered that for this entire journey of close
to fifteen years that it had involved special people
giving of themselves and of my own important
role of acting as the fulcrum for connecting people
separated by these catastrophic events. With
the release of the book, this role has exploded –
and the book is now serving as an even greater
link to many people. Owing to this fact and the
problem that the majority of the children of the
Jewish Magdeburger no longer speak German,
the decision has been made to publish the book in
English and it is hoped that the edited and updated
manuscript will be ready by the end of 2012.
Magdeburger Schriften 4
My Holocaust Odyssey
mdv
locally and internationally. His most recent work – the
German translation of his PhD thesis (Life under
Siege: The Jews of Magdeburg under Nazi Rule
[2006]) – was launched in November 2011 to much
public acclaim by the prestigious German publisher,
Mitteldeutscher Verlag, under the title: „Und dann
warst du auf einmal ausgestoßen!“ Die Magdeburger
Juden während der NS-Herrschaft. Owing to the
overwhelming success of the German edition, Michael
has now secured a publisher for the English edition,
which is currently under preparation. Michael’s
particular areas of expertise are German-speaking
Jewry under Nazism; German-Jewish history; The
Holocaust; the history of European Jewry; and the
history of Zionism.
A Letter from Milos
Edward Duyker, French Studies
Dr Edward Duyker, Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of French Studies, and Adjunct Professor of the
Australian Catholic University, writes of his visit to the Greek Island of Milos in the Western Cyclades in December 2011
My current biographical subject, the French
explorer Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d’Urville
(1790–1842), visited the Greek island of Milos
aboard the survey vessel Chevrette in 1819,
1820 and 1821. I believe strongly in visiting
the places I write about. Aside from gaining a
sense of the Melian landscape, I had a number
of specific historical questions that I wanted to
answer, particularly with regard to the discovery
and acquisition of the Venus de Milo, now in the
Louvre, Paris.
After arriving in the port of Adamas, a vast flooded
volcanic caldera which offers sanctuary from the
northerly winds, my wife Susan and I sought to
get our bearings. We hired a yellow Hyundai
Getz for the duration of our stay. Our first visit
was to the French cemetery on the seashore
close to Adamas. I was in search of the grave of
Louis Brest, the French vice-consul at the time of
d’Urville’s visits. There was only one clearly dated
grave, 1855, and it was not Louis Brest’s. Not long
after we found one of the two Catholic churches
Brest founded on the island. This was the Church
of Saint Nicolas–and it was 6 December, the feast
of Saint Nicolas, an important day in Greece as
it is in my father’s native Netherlands. There
were three gravestones inside the church, two
French and one American, but none was Louis
Brest’s. However, inside the church we found an
information brochure prepared by a Greek Jesuit
named Nicos Roussos and a local lady named
Lilika Mikeli. It stated that Brest was buried in the
Church of our Lady of the Rosary, Plaka. This
was the other church the French consul endowed.
So we drove to Plaka. There we found street
signs to this church, but we could not locate the
building itself. It was evidently among a cluster
of whitewashed stone vernacular houses built
cheek by jowl overlooking the sea, but the doors,
all painted blue, were locked and the people living
nearby were not very helpful. We decided to climb
the weathered volcanic dome of Kastro which
towers over Plaka, in the hope of getting a bird’s
eye view of the quarter. To be honest, Kastro
beckoned irresistibly anyway. It was a steep climb
and the wind on its exposed flanks was so fierce
that times our feet were discernibly blown a few
centimetres from our intended footfalls. Much of
Kastro was inhabited until an earthquake in 1918.
Now there are just a few houses lower down and
numerous ruins. Eventually we reached the
walls of an ancient Frankish fort and a small white
church which clings tenaciously to the windblown
summit. It gave the impression of having been
there for centuries, but later we learned that the
occupying Germans dynamited the original much
larger church and a network of tunnels beneath it
during the Second World War.
The top of Kastro not only provided magnificent
expansive views of the sea and the offshore
islands, but also most of Milos’ horseshoe of
land. We could see something of a barrel vaulted
building near the Orthodox Church of Korfiatissa.
This seemed to be the Church of Our Lady of the
Rosary that I was looking for. We descended
Kastro and again tried to find the church. One
door seemed to be the entrance, but it was
locked. No one knew who had the key, or so it
seemed. Since the Archaeological Museum of
Milos is also located in Plaka, we thought we
would enquire there. We were fortunate to find
two kind and helpful ladies on duty: Filio Kypreou
and Maria Nikolaou. Filio did not speak English,
but Maria did. Between them they appraised
our question and then made a phone call to
someone who would be of priceless assistance
during our remaining days on the island: Virginia
‘Gina’ Grigoriou. We arranged to meet Gina in
the Mariana Café in Adamas at 11.00 am on the
following morning. She not only knew who had
the key to the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary,
but she was also very interested in Dumont
d’Urville and his visit to Milos. For the first time I
was speaking to someone who was familiar with
the individuals who intrigued me. She would
bring a number of books, including some that had
belonged to her late father who had been a mine
owner on the island. We met Gina as planned the
A Letter from Milos
next morning. She was a striking woman, slender
and red-haired and perhaps a few years older than
my wife and I. Despite being a heavy smoker she
seemed to have insatiable energy. Gina came to
Milos in 1955 with her parents and grew up there,
but later lived in America, Monaco and France.
Aside from her native Greek, she spoke English
and French fluently. It was evident that she also
knew the sea and how to sail. I would soon be
very grateful to her for her ready translations of
texts we would come across in the next couple of
days. Gina showed me one book which provided
very valuable Greek sources on the circumstances
surrounding the discovery and acquisition of the
Venus de Milo. The other book she showed me
was a book about the French vice-consul Louis
Brest and his descendants. These are the kinds of
historical sources that you are unlikely to find when
you are a desk-bound historian who does no field
research.
After an initial orientation and getting to know each
other over a cup of Greek coffee, we set off once
more for Plaka to find Brest’s grave. Gina soon
found the family who had the key to the Church of
Our Lady of the Rosary. The door was to the west
of where we thought it was, but it was clear that
the church, which adjoined what had been Louis
Brest’s house, was secreted behind walls–one of
which had been built illegally very recently. This
latter wall perhaps explained the unhelpfulness
that we had encountered the day before from the
neighbours. For Gina, who is passionate about
the heritage of the island, the illegal construction in
front of the Catholic church was an outrage which
had deprived the building of much of its original
historic vantage of the sea. Inside the church we
found the grave of Louis Brest; its inscription was
clearly visible. He died in 1862 which instantly
helped me dismiss one French source which
said he died around 1871. His wife Aekatarina
is buried outside. After visiting the Folk Museum,
we followed Gina to the nearby home of her friend
Antonia Kamakaris Venizelou. Antonia is the
daughter of the late-Professor George Kamakaris
and she has preserved her father’s precious
library in her attic. We followed her up the steep
ladder-like stairs to the family treasure trove amid
a cackle of excited Greek. One of the books we
descended with was an offprint of a substantial
article published by the respected historian of the
Cyclades: Zafeiris Vaos (1905–2003). With the aid
of Gina’s lengthy translations–and me peering over
her shoulder to note page references as she read
out loud–many of my suspicions surrounding the
discovery of the Venus de Milo (actually a statue
of Aphrodite) by the peasant Theodoros Kendrotas
were confirmed. They also offered an explanation
of the confusion with Theodoros’ son Georgios
and provided important evidence that the agents
of the French ambassador in Constantinople used
coercion to confirm the purchase of the statue
to them. They had not taken up an earlier offer
of sale. At the time, the statue was bound for
the collection of the dragoman of the Ottoman
Navy, Nikolaki Mourouzi. He was a Christian
phanariot–a descendant of the Byzantine nobility
used by the Ottomans to rule their empire. Not
only did the French vice-consul Louis Brest slap
an Orthodox priest during the ‘negotiations’, but
another man’s ear was slashed with a sword.
According to Greek sources, twenty French
soldiers armed, like Louis Brest, with swords and
sticks were also involved in forcibly transferring
the statue from a brig from Galixidi to a French
naval vessel, the Estafette. The acquisition was
then rationalised with generous documents of
sale and worthless letters of indemnity. (The three
Orthodox primates of the island were later flogged
and fined 10,000 piastres for ‘allowing’ the French
to take the statue.) The arms of the Venus were
either already broken off or detached. It seems that
they were overlooked by the French sailors who
transferred the statue to the Estafette! Dumont
d’Urville was not implicated in this violence.
He had seen the statue shortly after it was
discovered and advised the French ambassador in
Constantinople, thereby setting in motion the chain
of events which followed. You will have to read the
biography for the full story.
We also visited the site where the Venus was
actually found and the following day the 5thCentury Christian catacombs which d’Urville also
visited and wrote about. The complex of galleries
form one of the earliest Christian sites in Europe
and were used for burials and clandestine worship
like the catacombs in Rome. Despite the effects of
moisture, there are vestiges of painted decorations
on the arched burial cavities and arcosolia. From
Vaos’ publication we learned that Dumont d’Urville
had carved his name in the volcanic tuff of one
of the galleries. Vaos provided photographic
evidence but, alas, for safety reasons, we were
not permitted to visit the part of the catacombs
he denoted. Some parts of the catacombs have
collapsed, so we cannot say for certain whether
d’Urville’s graffiti still survives. In any case
we were denied our Indiana Jones moment of
rediscovery!
On the same day we also visited the Roman
amphitheatre that Dumont d’Urville visited. It was
discovered in 1814 and, apparently, three years
later it was purchased by Crown Prince Ludwig of
Bavaria. There were substantial excavations in
the area and a flourishing direct trade in antiquities
with foreigners. This is an important fact because
A Letter from Milos
it makes it very unlikely that the peasant Kendrotas
intended to burn the Venus de Milo for lime as
some French sources have suggested. It just
doesn’t make sense. I am convinced he knew that
he had found a very valuable ancient statue about
a hundred and fifty metres from the amphitheatre.
With my most important research completed, we
had some time to explore the island’s wilder parts.
We drove that afternoon to visit Sarakiniko. Here
there is a moonscape of volcanic tuff which fell as
ash during one of the island’s last eruptions and
covered many shellfish on the beach and fossilised
them, but they are not ancient fossils geologically
speaking – only about 90,000 years. An even
more recent ‘fossil’ was a wrecked cargo vessel
rusting away close to the shore. There are also
some tunnels dug into the tuff. These were dug in
Roman times to mine pumice, which was used to
polish mosaics in other parts of the empire.
We then went in search of the island’s abandoned
sulphur mines at Paliorema on the isolated
east coast. The road was very rough, clinging
perilously at times to the side of a deep gorge in
the mountains heading toward the sea. We began
to worry the car would have insufficient traction to
get back up the steep gradient and that we might
also have no means to turn around. Dusk was
also approaching, so we decided to continue on
foot. It was too late to actually descend into the
eerie vestiges of the mine, but we gained a good
view from above and found some nice specimens
of mineral sulphur before heading back to Adamas.
The long mining heritage of the island is also
celebrated in the beautifully presented Milos
Mining Museum. Normally it is closed in winter,
but the curator opened especially for us after
hearing of our visit. Milos was formed by volcanic
eruptions which began 3.5 million years ago and
ended about 90,000 years ago, but there are still
areas of geothermal activity on the island. Lack of
surface water has limited agriculture on the island
to olives and goats. In ancient times, perhaps
as early as 10 000 BC, Melian obsidian (volcanic
glass) was prized for bladed tools and weapons
and was widely traded. Even in the iron age it
continued to be mined for ornaments, mosaics
and mirrors. Obsidian is easy to find on the island,
but we were disappointed to learn that it cannot
be taken out of the island by air and we were
leaving by plane! It was painful to divest ourselves
of some beautiful specimens. Mining remains
the main employer on the island. The volcanic
landscape yields vast quantities of Bentonite and
Perlite every year.
Unfortunately, that evening, I came down with
some kind of viral enteritis. Nevertheless, I was
determined to make the most of my time on the
island and went with Susan to the isolated (and
uninhabited) monastery of Aghios Ioannis (Saint
John). It has the appearance of a whitewashed
fortress and with good reason. For much of Milos’
history there have been predatory raids by pirates.
Although we were unable to enter the monastery
we could see the barrel vault and dome of its
central basilica and the surrounding monastic cells.
It was a jewel in the wilderness of the island’s
south-western coast. Our only companions were
numerous native goats who lived among the few
stunted juniper trees and fed on wild thyme. This
was very much an arid-land vegetation. But the
wind was also fierce and biting. By this time I
was starting to feel very ill. When I got out of the
car to answer a desperate call of nature in the
company of the goats, I was in a shivering febrile
state. The wind seemed to sap all my remaining
energy and I struggled to get back to the car.
Fortunately we had packed a thermos of hot water.
Saint John cannot take credit for the miraculous
transfiguration of my poor body in the wilderness.
Pure Ceylon tea deserves all the credit. I knew I
was for bed as soon as we returned to Adamas,
although I had to pack for an early flight to Athens
the following morning. We departed Milos on 10
December 2011 well satisfied with our endeavours
and hope to return one day.
Further reading:
−− [Belivanakis] Μπελιβανάκης , Γ., Οι κατακόμβες της Μήλου,
Αθήνα, 1994.
−− [Dalampira] Δαλαμπίρα, Χ. Ε.,
Ο Κόνσολας , Αθήνα, 1999.
−− Duyker, E., ‘An Explorer’s Books: The Library of Dumont
d’Urville’, Explorations, no. 49, part ii, December 2010, pp.
66–81.
−− [Simopoulou] Σιμοπουλου, K., Ξενοι Ταχιδιοτεσ Στην
Ελλαδα, Τομοσ Γ2, 1810–1821, Αθήνα, 1975.
−− [Soteriou] Σωτηρίου Γ., ‘Η χριστιανική κατακόμβη της νήσου
Μήλου’, Πρακτικά Ακαδημίας Αθηνών], vol. 3, part 1, 1928,
pp. 33–46.
−− [Vaos] Βάος, Ζ. A., “Η Αφροδίτη της Μήλου”, Επετηρίς της
Εταιρείας Κυκλαδικών Μελε, τών 3, 1963.
The Holocaust and Legacies of Race
in the Postcolonial World, 1945 to the Present
Dr Avril Alba, Hebrew Biblical and Jewish Studies
Held at Mandelbaum House from 10-12 April 2012, the recent international conference, The Holocaust and Legacies of Race
in the Postcolonial World, 1945 to the Present was the latest research initiative in an international collaboration between the
University of Sydney’s Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies, the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the
University of Cape Town and the Parkes Institute for Jewish/ non-Jewish relations at the University of Southampton.
Beginning in 2000, the research collaboration has included a series of
conferences and publications (sponsored by the Arts and Humanities
Research Council, UK) focused on the ‘Port Jew’ project, an interdisciplinary
study of Jews in ports across time and place. This initial research led to a
formal memorandum of understanding between the Parkes Institute and the
Kaplan Centre and resulted in further conferences and publications on the
theme of ‘place’, ‘the journey’ and ‘the archive and migration’. More recently,
the partnership expanded to include the University of Sydney’s Department of
Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies. The publication of the edited collection
The Memory of the Holocaust in Australia (James Jordan, Tom Lawson, eds.)
marked the beginning of this collaboration, which continued with the staging
of this conference (supported by the World Universities Network and the
International Program Development Fund) and plans are now in place for a
tripartite memorandum of understanding and a further conference in Cape
Town to take place in January 2013.
The Holocaust and Legacies of Race was formally opened by Associate
Professor Jennifer Barrett in her capacity as Pro Dean and a formal
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing the three way
collaboration was signed by Associate Professor Barrett and Professor
Above: the conference under full steam.
Top left: Professor Konrad Kwiet.
Left: the conference committee and
Associate Professor Jennifer Barrett, Pro
Dean Academic, University of Sydney
(3rd from left).
The Holocaust and Legacies of Race
Rutland representing the University of Sydney with
Professor Tony Kushner signing on behalf of the
University of Southampton and Professor Milton
Shain for the University of Cape Town. The MoU
establishes a formal basis through which the three
universities can now participate in staff and student
exchanges and continued research projects
across the spectrum of Jewish and Holocaust
Studies. The diverse research interests of the
faculty at all three centres in conjunction with the
rich repository of archival sources held at each
institution will provide a strong foundation for future
collaborations.
The Holocaust and Legacies of Race was
attended by scholars from across the globe as well
as local participants. The conference aimed to set
an international agenda for continued research into
the Jewish migration experience and its impact
on the societies in which Jews found themselves
post ’45. Through a focus on the complex category
of ‘race’, the conference sought to shed new light
on how the experience of those who survived
Nazi racial persecution
intersected with the already
racialised societies to which
they had migrated. Twenty
seven presenters explored
in a comparative and multidisciplinary framework how
societies, cultures and
political systems defined
by legacies and on-going
issues of ‘race’, racism and
anti-racism responded to the
Holocaust after the Second World War, expanding
and deepening our understanding of both
migration history and Holocaust memory.
Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies
(HBJS) faculty presented with Professor Suzanne
Rutland speaking on ‘Racial Criteria of Australia’s
Post-War Migration Program, 1945-1952’ and Dr
Avril Alba presenting a paper entitled, ‘A Question
of Relevance? Redeveloping the Sydney Jewish
Museum’. HBJS research students were also
encouraged to participate in the conference
with Honours student Leon Pearlman giving a
challenging paper on post war Polish film and
issues of race in post WW2 Poland. International
presenters shared their research on topics as
diverse as Troy University’s Dr Dan Puckett’s
paper ‘The Holocaust and Jim Crow: Legacies
of Racism’ and the University of Southampton’s
Dr James Jordan’s presentation ‘Echoes of a
Colonial Past in British Television’s Image of the
Holocaust’. Given the diversity and breadth of
papers presented, plans are already underway for
the publication of two volumes of research papers
developed as a result of the
conference.
The conference also
included a celebration of the
career of Professor Konrad
Kwiet, Pratt Professor in
the Department of Hebrew,
Biblical and Jewish Studies
and leading Australian
scholar of the Holocaust
for the past forty years.
The celebration was held at the Sydney Jewish
Museum where Professor Kwiet has served as
Resident Historian for the past 20 years with over
150 people in attendance. Professor Kwiet gave
a moving address that spanned the entirety of his
career in Holocaust studies aptly titled, ‘Once upon
a Time in Australia: Aborigines, Racists and Jews’.
Both the conference and its resulting research
initiatives are indicators of the increasingly
important role that the Department of Hebrew,
Biblical and Jewish Studies
plays in teaching and
research across the areas
of Jewish and Holocaust
Studies in both the Australian
and international arenas.
(l to r) Avril Alba, Konrad Kwiet and
Suzanne Rutland, University of Sydney.
Above: students Sarah Shawyer and
Tom Plant, University of Southampton
PUBLICATIONS
Giorgia Alu, (Forthcoming) Mythical ‘far-away-ness’:
desire and idealization in Wilhelm von Gloeden’s
photographs of Sicily, In the Eye of the Beholder: Travel
Literature, Translation and Otherness, Peter Lang
Publishing, New York
Rachel Barda, Egyptian-Jewish Emigres in Australia,
Cambria Press, Amherst, NY
Novi Djenar, Deixis, Point of view, and Empathy, Dari
Menapak Jejak Kata Sampai Menyigi Tata Bahasa,
Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, Jakarta, 1,
93-114
Theodore Ell, “Introduction to Piero Bigongiari’s Greek
Writings”, in Modern Greek Studies, Australia & New
Zealand. A Journal for Greek Letters, 15, 2011, 64-88.
Michele Ford, L. Lyons and W. van Schendel (eds).
Labour Migration and Human Trafficking in Southeast
Asia: Critical Perspectives. Abingdon and New York:
Routledge
Michele Ford, and L. Lyons (eds). Men and Masculinities
in Southeast Asia. Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
Michele Ford, Thushara Dibley. 2012. Experiments in
Cross-Scalar Labour Organizing: Reflections on Trade
Union-Building Work in Aceh after the 2004 Tsunami.
Antipode 44 (2): 303-320.
Michele Ford, Contested Borders, Contested
Boundaries: The Politics of Labour Migration in
Southeast Asia. In R. Robison (ed). Routledge
Handbook of Southeast Asian Politics. London and New
York: Routledge, pp.305-314.
Keith Foulcher, Fluid Transitions in an Era of Reform,
Words in Motion: Language and Discourse in Post-New
Order Indonesia, NUS (National University of Singapore)
Press, Singapore, 1, 1-15
Mats Karlsson, Literary Appropriations of The Modern:
The Case of Akutagawa Ryunosuke And August
Strindberg, Rethinking Japanese Modernism, Global
Oriental, Leiden, The Netherlands, 164-187
Roman Rosenbaum, Japanese Mythological Modernism:
The Story of Puck and the Appearance of kindaijin,
Rethinking Japanese Modernism, Global Oriental,
Leiden, The Netherlands, 1, 387-407
Ki-Sung Kwak, Australian Content Rule in Converged
Media Landscape, World Broadcasting Review (765),
1-6
Michelle Royer, ‘Encounters with the ‘third age’:
Benguigui’s Inch’Allah dimanche and Beauvoir’s Old
Age’ in Jean-Pierre Boule and Ursula Tidd (eds,)
Existentialism and Contemporary Cinema: A Beauvoirian
Perspective. Oxford: Berghahn, 2012, pp. 123-134.
Bonnie S. McDougall, Translation Zones in Modern
China: Authoritarian Command versus Gift Exchange,
Cambria Press, Amherst, New York, 2011
Andrew McGarrity, Religious Perspecitives on Umbilical
Cord Blood Banking?, Journal of Law and Medicine,
20-21(1)
M. Cristina Mauceri, Cultural Encounters and Clashes
around the Table: Food in Migrant Writing in Italy,
in Food in Postcolonial and Migrant Literatures/
La nourriture dans le littératures postcolonales et
migrantes, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Peter Lang, 2012,
257-270.
Nerida Newbigin, “Le onoranze fiorentine del 1459:
poemetto anonimo del codice Magliabechiano vii.1121.”
Letteratura italiana antica 12, 2011.
Nerida Newbigin, Italian Medieval Drama. Annotated
bibliography for Oxford Bibliographies Online.
Nerida Newbigin, “Piccolomini drammaturgo
sperimentale?” In Alessandro Piccolomini (1508–1579):
Un siennois à la croisée des genres et des savoirs.
Proceedings of conference, Paris, 23–25 September
2010. Ed. Marie-Françoise Piéjus, Michel Plaisance and
Matteo Residori. Paris: Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
Paris 3, 2012, 155–170.
Duk-Soo Park, Responses to negative questions in
Korean, Language Information, 14
Matthew Stavros, Military Revolution and the Early
Modernization of Japan, Introduction To Asian Cultures,
Pearson Education Australia, Sydney, 1, 253-273
Rebecca Suter, “Kaigai kara mita ‘sentô shôjo.’” In
Hiromi Dollase, ed., Shôjo Manga Wandaarando. Tokyo:
Meiji Shoin, 2012.
Linda Tsung, C. Leong, S.Tse, M. Shum, W. Ki,
Grammaticality judgment of Chinese and English
sentences by native speakers of alphasyllabary: a
reaction time study, International Journal of Bilingualism
Adrian Vickers, Sakti reconsidered: power and the
disenchantment of the world; examples from Bali
and elsewhere in Indonesia, Continuity and Change:
(Re)conceptualising Power in South-east Asia 2009,
Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and
Humanities, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Bronwyn Winter, Lily Pads and Leisure Meccas: The
Gendered Political Economy of Post-Base and Post-9/11
Philippines, Gender, Power, and Military Occupations:
Asia Pacific and the Middle East since 1945, Routledge
imprint of Taylor & Francis, New York, London, 79-97
PUBLICATIONS
The latest issue of the
Australian Journal of French
Studies Volume 49, Number
2, 2012 published by
Liverpool University press
has just been released: http://
liverpool.metapress.com/
content/j34j6827q540/
The issue, edited by Dr
Françoise Grauby and Dr
Michelle Royer, features
selected articles based on
papers presented at the
Australian Society for French
Studies in September 2010
at the University of Sydney.
This issue contains a preface by the two editors and 8
articles including two by international scholars in French
Studies Professor Gilles Brougères and Professor Marc
Lapprand. Two articles on French cinema from PhD
students in the Department of French studies, Kari
Hanet and Annabelle Doherty, also feature in this issue.
−− Kari Hanet, ‘Fun with Fairies: Representation of
Gender Identity in La Cage aux folles and The Bird
Cage’, pp.167-182.
−− Annabelle Doherty ‘Digital Tableaux of Cinematic
Cultural Memory in the French Heritage Film: Un long
dimanche de fiançailles’, pp. 196-207.
A History of Greek Cinema, Continuum, New York.
Vrasidas Karalis’s book is the first full-length book on
this topic written in English by an Australian academic.
The book focusses on the attempts to establish a
“national” cinema furthering social cohesion and
national identity, from the first grrek film in 1912 until
the social crisis of 2011. The book combines historical
analysis with discussion of cinematic form in order to
construct a narrative history of Greek cinematic success
and failures.
Adrian Vickers, Bali: A Paradise Created, Tuttle
Publishing, Tokyo, USA, Singapore. New edition
contains a new introduction, additional chapter and
illustrations, and revised text.
Bali: Tempo Doeloe (Bali in the Old Days), new
Indonesian translation of edited collection Travelling
to Bali: 400 Years of Journeys, originally published by
Oxford in Asia in 1994. Published by Komunitas Bambu
in Jakarta, with a new introduction.
The book was launched at Customs House on 18 April
by David Stratton, film critic and co-presenbter of the
ABC TV program At The Movies as part of the Greek
Festival of Sydney.
news
SLC Prizes Night
The School’s annual Prizes Night was celebrated
on Thursday 24 May in the historic MacLaurin
Hall, in the Quadrangle Building at the University.
Over 200 friends, family and guests, including
prize donors and members of Sydney’s diplomatic
corps, attended to see more than sixty students
from the School’s departments receive prizes,
some established over 100 years ago, and others
established as recently as this year. Head of School
Professor Jeffrey Riegel opened proceedings on the
night and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences, Professor Duncan Ivison, also spoke to
the assembled guests.
For a full list of prize recipients and some photos
from the night, please see the following pages.
Above: Dean of the Faculty, Professor Duncan Ivison.
Top right: Head of School, Professor Jeffrey Riegel
Far right: Germanic Studies prize-giving.
Right: in MacLaurin Hall.
news
SLC Prizes Night cont’d
Chinese Studies
French Studies
Ryan Ho Yuen Miu
Asian Students’ Council’s 1963 Festival of Asia Scholarship for
Proficiency in Chinese Studies
Magalie Delphine Marie
Anne Bates Memorial Scholarship for French
Angela Molly Galea
Winston G. Lewis Prize in Chinese History
Germanic Studies
Annis Naomi McTigue
Austrian Embassy Prize
Julie Rose Ayre
Enid Watson Memorial Scholarship in Germanic Studies
Amelia Blefari, Hannah Stenstrom, Lucy Stone
The Emilie M. Schweitzer Honours Scholarships in Germanic Studies
Phillip John Mugridge, Brennan James Nicholson, Robert Edward
Pattinson
Garton Scholarship No. IV for first year German
Minh Anh Nguyen
Banque Nationale de Paris Prize for French
Maryann Elizabeth Cullis, Jillian Donohoo, Jiemin Joel Mak
The Emilie M. Schweitzer Honours Scholarships in French Studies
Sarah Elizabeth Krust
Garton Scholarship No. I for French
Mitchell Jay Robinson
Garton Scholarship No. II for French
Jackson Guy Wherrett
Graham Jones Prize for French
Alice Elizabeth Bolt
Helen Simpson Prize for French
Isolde Daniell
Joan Norris Prize
Naomi Asakawa, Soleda Jean Hansen-Collins, Heidi Yan-Yan Sham
Jesse Walker
Garton Scholarship No. V for second year German
Lithgow Scholarship No. II for French
Phoebe Hoff, Heydon Letcher
Monica Nashed
Garton Scholarship No. VI for third year German
Peter Edward Moran Memorial Prize for French
Michaela Mary Salmon
Elizabeth Jane Leitner
Goethe Prize in German Studies for German Honours
Ronald Horan Prize for French
Glenn Alan Windschuttel
Belinda Wong
Ian David Armfield Memorial Prize
Sonia Marks Memorial Prize for French
Ellen Josephine
Moore
Total Australia Prize in French
Above: Chair of French Studies Dr Michelle Royer awards prizes
in French. Below: Emilie M. Schweitzer Prize winners from the
French and German Departments, with Chairs and Dr Peter
Mackinson, who awarded the on the night, and Mrs Mackinson.
news
SLC Prizes Night cont’d
Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies
Indonesian Studies
Nicole Candice Isaacson
Bernard and Lotka Ferster Scholarship for first year beginner’s
Modern or Classical Hebrew
Iona Main
Asian Students’ Council’s 1963 Festival of Asia Prize for Proficiency
in Indonesian Studies, Second Level
Rachel Rebecca Levy
Bernard and Rodia Ferster Memorial Prize in Modern Hebrew |
HBRW2611 /2612
Lauren Dwyer
Asian Students’ Council’s 1963 Festival of Asia Prize for Proficiency
in Indonesian Studies, Third Level
Natalie Fay Mylonas
John Rector Scholarship
George Martin Sirait
F.H. van Naerssen Memorial Prize for Indonesian Studies
Joel Grant
Ronald J. Worsley Memorial Prize for Indonesian Studies
Catherine Day, Carolyn May Livingston
Percy Joseph Marks Prize for first year beginner’s Modern or
Classical Hebrew
Katrina Steedman, Merryn Lagaida
Sydney Lyceum Prize in Memory of Matar Gultom Flegg
Ingrid Van Tongeren
Percy Joseph Marks Prize for Modern Hebrew | HBRW2603/2604
or HBRW2605/2606
Katherine Tobias
Percy Joseph Marks Prize for Modern Hebrew | HBRW2607/2608
Carly Leigh Field
Percy Joseph Marks Prize for Modern Hebrew | HBRW2609/2610
Jonathan Thambyrajah
Percy Joseph Marks Prize for senior Classical Hebrew
Indian Sub-continental Studies
Xiang Miao
Khyentse Foundation Award for Excellence in Buddhist Studies
Top: Natalie Mylonas, winner of the John Rector Scholarship,
with the scholarship’s donor, Mr John Rector.
Above: XXX of the Khyentse Foundation, with Director of the
Buddhist Program and Chair of Indian Studies, Dr Mark Allon,
and prize-winner Xian Miao and friend.
Above: Professor Adrian Vickers,
Chair of Indonesian Dr Novi
Djenar, and prize-winners from
the department.
news
SLC Prizes Night cont’d
Italian Studies
Modern Greek Studies
Harry Cameron, Divya Sita Murthy
Beatrice Moran Memorial Prize in third year Italian
Pavlos Stavropoulos
Greek Australian Professional Association Modern Greek Prize
Vanessa Marafioti, Antonia Watson
Countess E.M. Freehill Scholarship No. I for first year Italian
Sophia Sakellis
G.S. Caird Scholarship in second year Modern Greek
Thomas Alexander Wilson
Countess E.M. Freehill Scholarship No. II for second year Italian
Nicolas Parathiras, Eleonora Tsiknas-Kazantzis, Lambros Voutos
George Thomas Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 1
Marko Niketic, Francesca Ori
The Merenda Scholarship
Elise Galati, Stephanie Konstandopoulos
George Thomas Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 2
Maria Tsikrikas, Robert Zhi Hao Zhu
Rosina Tedeschi Memorial Prize for Italian Conversation
Anastasia Tsirtsakis
George Thomas Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 3
Japanese Studies
Betty Zhang
A.L. Sadler Prize for Excellence
John Stuart Holloway
Katina Cassimatis Prize
Chair of Korean Studies Dr Ki-Sung Kwak (l) and Dr Duk-soo
Park (r) with prize winners Heidi Sham and Dianna Wang.
John Stuart Holloway
Order of AHEPA Scholarship in Modern Greek
Isaac David Freelander
Hugh Clarke Prize for Excellence in Japanese 6
Seung Ho Lee
James Murdoch Prize for Excellence in Japanese 4
Korean Studies
Yu Fei Ding
Moira Jennings Memorial Prize
Joni Bobo Sham
Korean Consulate Prize
Sze Hang Mark Kwan
Heidi Yan-Yan Sham, Dianna Xi Xing Wang
Korean Consulate Prize sponsored by Top Media (2 Prizes)
Sakuko Matsui Prize for Excellence in Japanese Literature
To be announced
Nicholas Anthony Aroney Research Scholarship
Tanami E-Sonter
Robert William Henderson Memorial Prize
Other Prizes
Anna-Lisa Doumani, Monica Nashed, Michaela Mary Salmon
Margaret Ann Bailey Memorial Prize for Honours in a Modern
European Language
news
Amara Lakhous
Inter-departmental Event
The Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and
the Department of Italian Studies organised a joint
seminar on Monday, 23 April 2012. Dr M. Cristina
Mauceri, Dr Lucia Sorbera and Mr Ghassan
Nakhoul interviewed the Algerian-Italian writer
Amara Lakhous about his recent books Divorzio
all’islamica in Viale Marconi and Un pirata piccolo
piccolo.
Amara Lakhous is one of the most successful
migrant writers in Italy today. His novels have been
published in Italian and Arabic and translated into
English, French, German and Dutch. The writer
talked about his fifteen-year experience in Rome,
which he defined as “a long-lasting love story”. Two
of his novels are set in multicultural inner suburbs
in Rome. He talked about his multiple identities,
which gives him a special gaze on reality and on
migration issues and enriches his life. For example,
in Divorzio all’Islamica, he adopts a female gaze,
not only to criticize the patriarchal society and
gender relations in Muslim majority countries, but
also to deconstruct Western stereotypes about
Muslim women. He said that it was a challenge
to identify himself as a woman, and to look at the
world with the eyes of a young Muslim woman was
a great experience. He also declared that his way
of writing is strongly influenced by Italian cinema,
with which he is well acquainted. A propos of
intercultural dialogue, he stressed the importance
of foreign scholars studying other cultures and
languages. The interview was followed by readings
from his novel Divorzio all’islamica in Viale
Marconi.
Students and colleagues from both departments
attended, and took part, who asked questions to
the writer in English and in Arabic, attended the
event with enthusiasm. Amara Lakhous’ visit to
Sydney was supported by the Italian Institutes of
Culture of Melbourne and of Sydney. M. Cristina
Mauceri and Lucia Sorbera are planning to publish
the interview with the writer, because there is
considerable interest in this author in Englishspeaking countries as the English translation of
the novel, Divorce Islamic Style, has just been
released.
(from left) Dr Lucia Sorbera, Amara Lakhous, Dr M. Cristina Mauceri
news
Italian Studies
Guest Lecturer
On 23 April the Algerian-Italian Writer Amara Lakhous
was interviewed by Dr M. Cristina Mauceri, Dr Lucia
Sorbera and Mr Ghassan Nakhoul of Arabic and Islamic
Studies, and on 24 April he presented a seminar
entitled “Self-translating and migration literature” to
undergraduate students (ITLN3688-Advanced ItalianTranslation). (See previous page)
Announcements
Seminars
Dr Eliana Maestri (EUOSSIC Erasmus Mundus
Research Postdoctoral Fellow in European Studies at
the University of Sydney) “Translating Jamaica Kincaid’s
The Autobiography of my Mother: Voices from the
Abyss”. (May 10)
Dott. Antonella Beconi (Italian Government Lector)
“L’origine demoniaca del carnevale” (24 May)
Chinese Studies
Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Nerida Newbigin
and US art historian Barbara Wisch who have been
awarded a Weiss/Brown Publication Subvention Award
from the Newberry Library, Chicago, and an Australian
Academy of the Humanities Publication Subsidy in
support of their forthcoming book Acting on Faith: The
Confraternity of the Gonfalone in Renaissance Rome
(Philadelphia: St Joseph’s University Press).
China Studies Centre grant for International
Workshop
Congratulations to all students who received prizes and
scholarships for their excellent performances in Italian
and Italian Studies - see the article on Prizes night for a
list of our students!
The workshop is situated in the context of research on
contemporary Chinese linguistics with a focus on the
role that language plays in the on-going socio-political
transformation of Chinese society. With a view to
producing new interpretative approaches in researching
the complexity of discourses, this workshop will examine
(but not limited to)
Nerida Newbigin has published a critical edition of a
long poem describing the magnificent 1459 celebrations
for the visit to Florence of Galeazzo Sforza, young son
of the Duke of Milan, and Pius II. She is completing an
English verse translation of the 5000-line work.
Dr Linda Tsung, Dr Wei Wang and Dr Derek Herforth
have been awarded a grant by the China Studies Centre
to organize an international workshop on Contemporary
Chinese Discourses and Social Change in China. This
workshop will be held at the University of Sydney, on 8th
-9th August, 2013.
−− how Chinese language and discourse change in a
context-dependent way;
−− how social changes in China can lead to such shifts in
the use of discourse;
−− how social identities are constructed through language
use; and
−− the ways in which agents or agencies manipulate
meanings.
This workshop will bring together for the first time in
Australia leading world experts in the area of Chinese
language, Chinese linguistics and sociolinguistics,
especially in contemporary Chinese discourse studies.
The workshop will afford the first opportunity to these
scholars, spread across the world, to gather in a single
location and forge a new, innovative collaborative
research agenda for the decades to come.
Southerly reading
Bonnie S. McDougall was among ten contributors invited
to read their work at the May 2012 launch of the latest
issue of Southerly, the journal of the English Association
at Sydney University. The work in question is her
translation of the poem “Rainstorm”, written by Ng Meikwan. Dr Ng completed her PhD on classical Chinese
poetry in the Department of Chinese Studies at Sydney
University and now teaches in Hong Kong. The poem
appears in Southerly’s on-line edition, Long Paddock.
news
Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish
Studies
From 15-23rd April 2012 Dr Avril Alba served as lead
educator for the Holocaust education program ‘March
of the Living’ – Australian sector. Sixty Year 11 high
school students from across Australia joined together
to learn about the Jewish experience in Poland prior
to and during the Holocaust as well as commemorate
Yom HaShaoh (Holocaust Remembrance Day). Through
visiting sites such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Warsaw
and Lodz ghettos and the cities of Zamosc and Krakov
students were given the unique opportunity to learn from
and within the landscape.
at Beit Berl College, Israel. Among his activities while
in Sydney, Itzik discussed prophetic literature with
the students in the senior Biblical Studies course. He
also gave a paper at the meeting of the Fellowship
for Biblical Studies, on the topic: ‘“Yet forty days,
and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4): Two
Readings (shtei krie’ot) of the Book of Jonah’. Itzik is a
very lively and engaging lecturer and both students and
more senior scholars very much enjoyed his talking to
them.
at a general audience which showcase the usefulness of
academic work in Biblical Studies for the average reader
of the Bible, and to promote the Biblical Studies courses
in the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish
Studies. Ian spoke on the topic “Flawed Characters:
The Literary Presentation of the Heroes of the Hebrew
Bible”, dealing with the question: The greatest heroes
of the Bible are all presented as flawed and failing in
various ways. We will look at Moses, Joshua, David and
Elijah, and the literary techniques the biblical authors
use to present them in biblical narrative. Other ancient
On Tuesday 22nd of May, Ian Young gave the fifth
annual Alan Crown Memorial Lecture at Mandelbaum
House, the University of Sydney. Emeritus Professor
Alan Crown was a former head of department and a
prominent biblical researcher. The aim of the Alan
Crown lectures is to offer talks on topics in Bible aimed
Jewish literature which we will look at, like the Dead
Sea Scrolls, has a much more positive presentation of
the biblical heroes. So why does the Bible present its
heroes in this way, with their weaknesses as well as
their strengths on show? The talk was attended by 55
people and was followed by an interesting and lively
discussion in question time.
On 21 May 2012 Dr Alba gave the commemorative
address and the Council of Christian and Jews Yom
HaSHaoh commemoration held at St Mary’s Cathedral
Crypt. Her address entitled, ‘Remembering in Good
Faith: The Future of Holocaust Remembrance for
Christians and Jews’ focussed on the possibilities for
joint commemoration in light of ongoing theological
differences.
Professor Suzanne Rutland is presenting at a
conference entitled ‘BETWEEN MUMBAI AND MANILA
:
Judaism in Asia since the foundation of the state of
Israel’, 30 May – 1 June at the University of Bonn .
The title of her paper is ‘The Asia-Pacific region and
Australian Jewry’.In March and April the department
was fortunate enough to be visited by Professor Yitzhak
(Itzik) Peleg, from the Department of Biblical Studies
news
Japanese Studies
Japanese Studies welcomes Dr
Nissim Otmazgin as a Visiting Scholar
in semester two. Dr Otmazgin is a
Lecturer in the Department of East
Asian Studies at the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, and a Research Fellow
at the Harry S. Truman Research
Institute for the Advancement of
Peace. Since March 2012, he has
also served as the Chair of the Israeli
Association for Japanese Studies. His visit to the
University of Sydney is sponsored by the Sir Zelman
Cowen Universities Fund for Academic Exchange
between the University of Sydney and the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.
Dr Otzmagin, Lionel Babicz and Rebecca Suter will
co-host an international symposium entitled “Rewriting
History in Manga: A New Medium for Debate?” on 17
August.
The 6th Inoue Yasushi Award Ceremony
In 2006 (Australia-Japan Year of Exchange), the Inoue
Yasushi Award was funded and established at The
University of Sydney by the Inoue Yasushi Memorial
Foundation/Inoue Family and Masanori Ohtani in
Sydney to encourage researchers studying Japanese
literature in Australia/New Zealand. This year, on
Friday 1 June, the Award ceremony takes place at the
Sydney Conservatorium of Music, along with special
performances from Zanshou
Suite by Inoue Yasushi, poem /
Saburo Takata, music” and Hideki
Isoda’s Silk Road Suite by Yoshiko
Kuroda, the Inoue Yasushi Award
Special Choir and Yuko Fujii on
piano, directed by Hideki Isoda,
Associate Dean of the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music
Modern Greek Studies
The Greek Financial and Political Crisis: The
View from Australia
Sydney Ideas Panel Discussion 7 June
sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2012/greek_crisis
This Sydney Ideas panel discussion chaired by
Associate Professor Vras Karalis, Chair of the
department. As the situation in Greece threatens
European financial stability, Australians with a
connection to Greece watch the unfolding events with a
mixture of anxiety and despair.
This event brings together a
panel of Australian commentators
with a spectrum of views and
opinions on the way forward for
the country of their ancestors.
Upcoming conference: Crisis, Criticism and
Critique in Contemporary Greek Studies
The Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and
New Zealand’s 11th Biennial Conference - 7-9 December
The present crisis in Greece
creates the presuppositions for
a new critical approach to the
accepted cultural orientation,
self-awareness and social
culture. The profound impact
of the crisis on all levels of
contemporary Greek life has
already generated a systematic
critique of the overall structure of modern Greek state,
historical consciousness and political order expressed in
all forms of cultural production through literature, arts,
language studies, education and journalism.
The conference is dedicated to the exploration of
the new cultural paradigm that is emerging for Greek
studies and wants to investigate the parameters and the
coordinates of the new critical self reflection that is likely
to shape Greek studies in the near future.
Book Launch
Vras Karalis’s latest publication A History of Greek
Cinema was launched in April at the Customs House
by David Stratton, the film critic and presenter of the
ABC TV program At The Movies. See this magazine’s
publications page for more information.
Issue#21
Language and Culture is an
online magazine published
four times a year
Editorial Staff
Michael McCabe
Rob Berry
Original design concept
Serene Tay
Layout
Michael McCabe
contacts
The following departments and programs are
located in the School of Languages and Cultures
Arabic & Islamic Studies
Asian Studies Program
Buddhist Studies Program
Chinese Studies
European Studies Program
French Studies
More Information
If you would like more information about
the School of Languages and Cultures or
would like to make an editorial enquiry
please contact us on +61 2 9036 5048.
For further information on any of the articles
in this issue, please contact us on:
T: +61 2 9351 2869
E: [email protected]
Germanic Studies
Hebrew, Biblical & Jewish Studies
Indian Subcontinental Studies
Indonesian Studies
International & Comparative Literary Studies Program
Italian Studies
Japanese Studies
Korean Studies
Modern Greek Studies
Spanish & Latin American Studies
June 2012