Andreas Athanasiades
I received my BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Cyprus, graduating with excellence in 2003. A year later I completed my MA at the University of Leeds, graduating with Merit. I am currently teaching at the University of Cyprus and the University of Nicosia, having completed my PhD in English Literature and Comparative Cultural Studies in 2013 on a full scholarship from the Government of Cyprus. My PhD dissertation explored socio-political connotations of desire and sexuality in the works of Hanif Kureishi. I have published articles and book chapters on Islamic fundamentalism, desire, and identity in refereed journals such as the Journal of Postcolonial Studies and Indi@Logs.
Research Interests:
Postcolonialism, sexuality, memory, life writing, cinematic studies.
Selected Publications:
Chapters in Books
1. “Revisiting the Raj Revival Genre: Expressions of Masculinity in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. Constantinos Phellas (ed). In Revisiting Sexualities in the 21st Century. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015, pp 44-58, ISBN: 978-1- 4438-7436-6.
2. “Re-imagining Identity: Revisiting Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette”. Cambridge Scholars Publishing (Forthcoming, July 2016)
Contributor in: Bergen-Aurand, Brian-Keith and Grossman, Andrew. Encyclopaedia of Queer Cinema. (Forthcoming, 2017)
Articles in refereed journals
1. “Reposessing Islam: Affective Identity and Islamic Fundamentalism in Hanif Kureishi”. IndiaLogs,Vol 2, 2015, pp. 55-71, ISSN: 2339-8523.
2. “Tell me a Story, Dad - (Post)memory and the Archaeology of Subjectivity in Hanif Kureishi's My Ear at His Heart”. In Tournay, Petra and Ulrike-Pirker, Eva (eds) Special Issue: Britishness beyond the New Britain: British Identities and the Identity of Britain in Recent Black/Asian British Writing. Journal of Postcolonial Writing Volume: 52, Issue: 01, pp. 26 - 37.
Research Interests:
Postcolonialism, sexuality, memory, life writing, cinematic studies.
Selected Publications:
Chapters in Books
1. “Revisiting the Raj Revival Genre: Expressions of Masculinity in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. Constantinos Phellas (ed). In Revisiting Sexualities in the 21st Century. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015, pp 44-58, ISBN: 978-1- 4438-7436-6.
2. “Re-imagining Identity: Revisiting Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette”. Cambridge Scholars Publishing (Forthcoming, July 2016)
Contributor in: Bergen-Aurand, Brian-Keith and Grossman, Andrew. Encyclopaedia of Queer Cinema. (Forthcoming, 2017)
Articles in refereed journals
1. “Reposessing Islam: Affective Identity and Islamic Fundamentalism in Hanif Kureishi”. IndiaLogs,Vol 2, 2015, pp. 55-71, ISSN: 2339-8523.
2. “Tell me a Story, Dad - (Post)memory and the Archaeology of Subjectivity in Hanif Kureishi's My Ear at His Heart”. In Tournay, Petra and Ulrike-Pirker, Eva (eds) Special Issue: Britishness beyond the New Britain: British Identities and the Identity of Britain in Recent Black/Asian British Writing. Journal of Postcolonial Writing Volume: 52, Issue: 01, pp. 26 - 37.
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Articles in Refereed Journals by Andreas Athanasiades
psychological development and importance reflect the relationship of the author and his own father figures in his real life, given that the circumstances of the author’s personal life are –more often than not– tangential with all of the political, social and theoretical parameters with which his work is concerned. Thus, the interaction between Kureishi’s different identities as a person and as a writer proves to be significant as he is read as a cultural instigator and hence, as an influential contributor to contemporary culture, especially in “creating” and “experiencing” a male self.It is the scope of this article then, to provide a general overview of the workings of the imaginary father-figure characters in a selection of Kureishi’s work, juxtaposing them with their real counterparts, mostly found in his memoir, My Ear at His Heart (2004), in an attempt to follow a trajectory of the argument that it is the author’s personal life circumstances that led to the creation of these characters and, conversely, the author’s preoccupation with literary father figures that culminated to the memoir itself. In other words, it is the basic contention of this paper that in this interaction between imagination and reality, Kureishi’s memoir is the culmination of decades of work vis-a-vis constructing a (male) self and a diasporic identity, seen through the
relationship between fathers and sons, both fictional and factual.
faced by his characters within the conflictual context generated by the clash of Islamic fundamentalism and sexual liberation is similar to the one diasporic subjects face today. The argument is that the process of thinking about identity in affective terms, based on the theories of the likes of Brian Massumi and Deleuze and Guattari, gestures towards a new way of addressing questions of belonging for diasporic subjects, which can have a profound effect on the perception of issues such as religious fundamentalism and social integration.
Chapters in Books by Andreas Athanasiades
manifestations of desire and sexuality within the social and cultural realms in Britain, opening up spaces in the cultural landscape to include intentionally – the marginalised and politically disenfranchised, while
interrogating at the same time hegemonic discourses pertaining to the
formation of identities. Such an approach gestures towards a re-evaluation of desire which, in turn, can lead us to re-think identity as a constantly evolving, uncategorised and therefore politically powerful apparatus. After the publication of his memoir, My Ear at His Heart (2004), in which the reader is given insights as to how and why characters in the author’s work were created, it seems that affective terms such as desire and sexuality can indeed be used to re-imagine the ways in which identity is experienced. Such an approach alludes to the complex constitutions of identity/ies apropos aesthetic or political concerns, and to how they can engage in a difficult and complex, yet fruitful relationship, avoiding what can be considered by the mainstream as ‘socio-political abnormalities.’ In that, I put forward that a retrospective re-examination of Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) is imperative, as it can help us understand how an evolutionary model of writing nods towards a sense of identity whose articulation has become distinctly polycultural, even post-racial. Such a revisiting of known texts can offer new insights on debates about identity and nation that transcend solipsistic and exclusivist diasporic matters about ‘myself’ as they gesture towards the aesthetic. Indeed, my chapter invites the reader to conceive contemporary identity in affective
terms and consequently as a space that surpasses the solipsism of cultural diversity, racial difference or narrow national exclusivity, thus inviting us to experience identity as a cultural instigator carrying socio-political possibilities
Papers by Andreas Athanasiades
psychological development and importance reflect the relationship of the author and his own father figures in his real life, given that the circumstances of the author’s personal life are –more often than not– tangential with all of the political, social and theoretical parameters with which his work is concerned. Thus, the interaction between Kureishi’s different identities as a person and as a writer proves to be significant as he is read as a cultural instigator and hence, as an influential contributor to contemporary culture, especially in “creating” and “experiencing” a male self.It is the scope of this article then, to provide a general overview of the workings of the imaginary father-figure characters in a selection of Kureishi’s work, juxtaposing them with their real counterparts, mostly found in his memoir, My Ear at His Heart (2004), in an attempt to follow a trajectory of the argument that it is the author’s personal life circumstances that led to the creation of these characters and, conversely, the author’s preoccupation with literary father figures that culminated to the memoir itself. In other words, it is the basic contention of this paper that in this interaction between imagination and reality, Kureishi’s memoir is the culmination of decades of work vis-a-vis constructing a (male) self and a diasporic identity, seen through the
relationship between fathers and sons, both fictional and factual.
faced by his characters within the conflictual context generated by the clash of Islamic fundamentalism and sexual liberation is similar to the one diasporic subjects face today. The argument is that the process of thinking about identity in affective terms, based on the theories of the likes of Brian Massumi and Deleuze and Guattari, gestures towards a new way of addressing questions of belonging for diasporic subjects, which can have a profound effect on the perception of issues such as religious fundamentalism and social integration.
manifestations of desire and sexuality within the social and cultural realms in Britain, opening up spaces in the cultural landscape to include intentionally – the marginalised and politically disenfranchised, while
interrogating at the same time hegemonic discourses pertaining to the
formation of identities. Such an approach gestures towards a re-evaluation of desire which, in turn, can lead us to re-think identity as a constantly evolving, uncategorised and therefore politically powerful apparatus. After the publication of his memoir, My Ear at His Heart (2004), in which the reader is given insights as to how and why characters in the author’s work were created, it seems that affective terms such as desire and sexuality can indeed be used to re-imagine the ways in which identity is experienced. Such an approach alludes to the complex constitutions of identity/ies apropos aesthetic or political concerns, and to how they can engage in a difficult and complex, yet fruitful relationship, avoiding what can be considered by the mainstream as ‘socio-political abnormalities.’ In that, I put forward that a retrospective re-examination of Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) is imperative, as it can help us understand how an evolutionary model of writing nods towards a sense of identity whose articulation has become distinctly polycultural, even post-racial. Such a revisiting of known texts can offer new insights on debates about identity and nation that transcend solipsistic and exclusivist diasporic matters about ‘myself’ as they gesture towards the aesthetic. Indeed, my chapter invites the reader to conceive contemporary identity in affective
terms and consequently as a space that surpasses the solipsism of cultural diversity, racial difference or narrow national exclusivity, thus inviting us to experience identity as a cultural instigator carrying socio-political possibilities