Antiquity in the Construction of Diasporic Greek Identity in Johannesburg

Abstract

Ancient Greece is often portrayed as the birthplace of diverse intellectual and cultural traditions. In Johannesburg, the Greek diaspora draws on such associations with antiquity to signal authentic group belonging. This article examines how references to antiquity are used to construct and inscribe Greek cultural identity in the contemporary city. Using multimodal data—photographs, field notes, interviews, and archival newspaper articles—the study shows that allusions to Greek antiquity play a central role in shaping the city’s semiotic landscape. These practices are probably linked to more than a century of deliberate nation-building efforts by Greece since independence. The article contributes to scholarship on the influence of non-colonial diasporas on Johannesburg’s semiotic landscape and extends sociolinguistic research on the Greek diaspora in South Africa.