Η ποντιακή ταυτότητα της τρίτης γενιάς
Part of : Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών ; Vol.9, 1992, pages 79-96
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Pages:
79-96
Parallel Title:
The pontic identity of the third generation
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Abstract:
In the 1920s more than 230,000 Pontic Greeks took refuge in Greece fromAsia Minor and the Soviet Union. The overwhelming majority of them werefrom Asia Minor. Migratory waves from the Soviet Union to Greece continueddespite long interruptions, reaching peaks in 1939 and again from 1988 untilnow. The collective identity of Pontic Greeks in Greece is not a national orethnic identity, because the group is part of a larger nation, the Greek nation,and it is not regional, because the geographical area of reference has been lost.The group migrated en masse from their place of origin and are not able toreturn.The methodology used in researching the causes and conditions of theformation and subsequent evolution of Pontic identity in Greece from the1920s included 92 face-to-face interviews conducted in 1989 with members ofdifferent generations of Pontic Greeks. The biographical approach was used inthese interviews, which provided most of the material from which the conclusionswere drawn. Other approaches were also employed, such as participantobservation during the period 1986-1992, in depth interviews with governmentofficials on the conditions of urban and rural resettlement of first generationPontic refugees, and information supplied by Pontic organizations in Athens.The collective identity of Pontic Greeks in Greece expresses a socio-psychologicalfeeling of identification which springs not only from the common past,but also from the particular manner of integration and the kind of cultural,economic and ideological relationship of the group with the larger Greekgroup. Identity is not only cultural identity. The group by means of its activityand its relationship with the social environment defines identity and its socialboundaries. Pontic identity today is seen by the third generation as the right tocultural and historical uniqueness. This differentation does not imply separatism,but on the contrary it is a cohesive factor in the evolution of the commonGreek national identity. The overall national identity encompasses Ponticidentity. This leads to the formation of a nationalist, rather than a regionalist ideology.
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