Gallipoli revisited: Transnational and transgenerational memory among Turkish and Sikh communities in Australia

Anzac Day in Australia has been widely scrutinised and criticised for offering a restrictive understanding of the nation’s historical and cultural essence. Although there is a comprehensive literature exploring collective memory and mythology of ‘Anzac’ and ‘Gallipoli’, diasporic communities’ engagement with the Anzac tradition has received little scholarly attention. Focusing on Sydney-based Turkish and Sikh participants of Anzac Day, this research raises new questions about diasporic identifications with highly contested national histories. The Sikh and Turkish participants of this research, many of whom have family connections to WWI, perceive Gallipoli as the converging point of their multiple and hybrid identities. These shared, yet often fragmentary, memories enable many Sikhs and Turks to locate themselves in Australian history, while challenging and reinforcing the hegemonic national master narrative. Drawing on the idea of ‘travelling memory’, this chapter also affords new insights into the role of transgenerational and transnational memories in diasporic identity formation.