Professor Vrasidas Karalis was inducted as a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities late last year, describing the experience as akin to reaching; “Mount Olympus of academic thought in Australia.”

The Sir Nicholas Laurantos Chair in Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies at the University of Sydney, Karalis has an impressive body of work, published extensively, including in this masthead. His expertise covers Greek literature and language, Byzantine and contemporary Greek society, and the Greek diaspora.

It is the first time a leading thinker on Ancient, Byzantine, and contemporary Greek culture has been invited to sit on the Academy.

“It’s a great honour for me – a recognition of the last 30 years of my work,” Karalis reflects. With 13 books and over 150 articles to his name, his achievements span the breadth of Greek cultural history.

One of his most enduring and significant contributions has been the translation of Australian authors into Greek.

“I translated Patrick White, Martin Johnston, and Michael Dransfield into Greek – it’s crucial for Greeks [in Greece] to understand what is happening here and be aware of the literary and cultural achievements of Australians.”

He sees himself as a “bridge maker between Greek and Australian literature.” His dream, he adds, is to translate The Vivisector by Patrick White, which he considers the greatest book on the psychology of artists ever written.

Identity: Unity in Multiplicity

Central to Karalis’s pursuits is his exploration of Greek identity. Unlike the Anglo-Saxon tradition, which he critiques for defining identity through a “single monocausal interpretation” – for example, “you are gay, you’re black, you are right, you are left” – Greek tradition embraces a “multiplicity of selves.”

“Australians, particularly the hegemonic Australians, must face the inevitable: they need to understand that we are doing a lot of quality work, contributing heavily to the general culture, and we must be recognised for that.

“We are, informally, researchers, academics, and creators of ideas in our own right.”

“We’re not heteronomous,” he continues.

“We don’t just produce knowledge for others; we create knowledge in our specific fields of study.”

This “unity in multiplicity,” he argues, offers a model for reconciling the various facets of identity, from the interplay of Antique Hellenism and Orthodoxy to the tension between self and other.

“My perception is that we now have the opportunity to address these connections,” Karalis notes, emphasising the importance of fostering autonomy within hegemonic systems. Drawing on the ancient Greek concept of paideia – often translated as “education” – he redefines it as the formation of an individual capable of critical self-reflection and cultural synthesis.

Reclaiming Greek authenticity

For Karalis, Greek identity must also challenge the forces of Western appropriation. He laments that Greek culture has been “usurped” by the Anglosphere, particularly in its portrayal of Ancient Greece as a monolithic “white” civilisation.

“Ancient Greeks never thought in terms of colour or racialism,” he says, dismissing racial categorisation as a “modern construct” rooted in Anglo-Saxon eugenics.

“The Anglo-Saxon world thinks in imperial terms, viewing itself as the centre of the world and thus exporting and imposing its cultural narratives.”

The political strategies around race, Karalis contends, are a form of “imported American provincialism,” which only exacerbates the problem.

Greek history, including the Roman Empire and Byzantium, Karalis argues, offers many examples of cultural inclusivity and multiplicity.

“To be Greek, or Roman, was to accept a structure of belonging, not race,” he says, citing figures like Emperor Caracalla, an African who was fully Roman.

“In Rome and later the Byzantium, we had African, Serb, Syrian, Greek, and Latin Roman emperors – we didn’t have a problem with that.”

The role of language

For Karalis, language is a repository of cultural memory and a site of transformation. While acknowledging the decline of Greek language teaching in Australia, he advocates for modern approaches to language education.

“The most ideal situation for all teachers of Greek is to be fluent and bilingual – Greek and English,” he says.

Rather than lamenting the shrinking presence of Greek in diaspora communities, Karalis urges a focus on what the Greek language can do today to enrich lives and foster cultural understanding.

Greek Cinema: Revival and challenges

Karalis’ work on Greek cinema has been profound and globally acknowledged. He sees Greek cinema as a continuum of cultural innovation, tracing its “golden age” to the 1950s, a time of creative migration. He laments, however, the bureaucratic constraints that have stifled film production in recent decades.

“It’s a continuum. Great Greek cinema began in the 1950s, during a time of significant migration and creativity,” Karalis explains.

“Greece produced some of the most important cultural contributions to European cinema and global cinema.”

He points to Costa-Gavras, who secured global recognition with his political thriller Z (1969) about the assassination of Lambrakis, and later won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film with Missing (1982). The late Theo Angelopoulos, for whom Karalis wrote a book, Theo Angelopoulos, was a major force in cinema, with works ranging from political films of the 1970s to the mesmerising films of his later career. Karalis argues for an intelligible and nuanced philosophy to support Angelopoulos’ work.

Angelopoulos, Karalis notes, was “the first one to attract funding from the United States, including from none other than Martin Scorsese.”

Asked about Yorgos Lanthimos, a leader of the “Weird Wave” of Greek cinema that emerged in the early 2000s, Karalis quips, “Lanthimos is now a Hollywood man, not even a Greek man anymore.”

Lanthimos gained prominence with his psychological drama ‘Dogtooth’ (2009), transitioned to English-language films with ‘The Lobster’ (2015), and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

His collaborations with Emma Stone on ‘The Favourite’ (2018) and ‘Poor Things’ (2023) earned multiple Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture. He also won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for ‘Poor Things’.

He laments the bureaucratization of the Greek film industry, whereby the “state wanted to control it.”

“From 20 films, we went down to just four a year,” Karalis says.

Karalis’ book ‘A History of Greek Cinema‘ was released with a Greek translation in Greece over ten years since it was first published. The book, which initially came out in English in 2012, presents a detailed account of Greek Cinema concentrated chiefly through Professor Karalis’ experiences with this art form.

Diaspora and modern Greek society

Karalis critiques both Greek political elites. He notes that while the Greek society has evolved through intermarriage and cultural exchange, the Greek state remains stuck in outdated frameworks from the mid-20th century.

Karalis says that someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo, an Athenian, and son of Nigerian immigrants – now one of the world’s best basketball players, and a key player for Milwaukee Bucks – is not seen as the norm, but rather as the exception.

“The state in Greece still operates with the premises of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s,” he observes, contrasting this stagnation with Australia’s dynamic political landscape.

“In Australia, change occurs every 10 years. In Greece, political elites haven’t changed in 70 years.”

Karalis sees this disconnect as an opportunity for the Diaspora to assert its cultural and political autonomy and reclaim its cultural authenticity.

“We are strong enough now. We have enough self-confidence and self-respect to say, ‘This is who we are.'”

Vision for a future

For Karalis, the path forward lies in embracing Greek culture’s pluralistic and transformative potential.

Whether through innovative language education, critical engagement with Greek history, or the revitalisation of cinema, he envisions a Greek identity that is dynamic, inclusive, and unapologetically authentic.

As one of Australia’s foremost thinkers on Greek culture, Karalis embodies the “unity in multiplicity” that he advocates. His induction into the Australian Academy of the Humanities is not just a recognition of his past achievements but also an affirmation of his ongoing contributions to the dialogue between Greece and the world.