Eleftheria Sofroniou joined the program to discuss her life in London and the city’s Greek Cypriot diaspora.
Sofroniou worked as a journalist for the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) and Hellenic TV in London, where she also completed her doctorate on the Greek Cypriot diaspora. Her research explored how community members speak and dance, and how they construct their ethnolinguistic identity through the interplay of modernity and tradition.
Her doctoral research focused on three Greek Cypriot dance groups in London. She found that, although use of the Greek language may be declining, London’s Greek Cypriots retain a strong sense of belonging. Through dance, they maintain close ties to their homeland while shaping a distinct ethnolinguistic identity of their own.
“We need to be more flexible and recognize that someone can be Greek even if they do not speak the Greek language,” she emphasized.