Argyrios Sakorafas is a PhD candidate at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Chair for Transcultural Studies and a member of the ERC-funded project MEDMACH - 'Machinery Rooms' of the Mediterranean, 1800-present: Images and Visual Archives of Movement and Acceleration.

Research Keywords: Transatlantic migration; Ship passages and Mediterranean ocean liners; Transnational contact zones.

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My dissertation, tentatively titled The History of Travel on Transatlantic Steamships and the Case of Migration from Southern Europe, examines ship passages aboard Mediterranean ocean liners during the early twentieth century. It argues that during the period of mass migration from the Mediterranean to the United States, the transatlantic passage was not a parenthetical moment, but a complex, multifaceted process of central importance not only for passengers but also for those ashore, the shipping lines and governments. Moving beyond studies that focus on steamship history or on the pre- and post-migration periods, it places passages at the center of analysis, emphasizing the ship as a historical arena. Looking into shipboard life reveals dimensions that remain invisible when attention is limited on departure and arrival. Sources demonstrate that ships functioned as transnational contact zones, spaces of connectivity and disconnectivity between people of diverse ethnic, linguistic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. The ship passage involved social hierarchies, mediated encounters among culturally diverse passengers, and reflected national, transnational and global dynamics. Practices set by shipping lines and governments structured routines aboard ship, shaped passengers’ experiences of the crossing, and reproduced or challenged class, national, and cultural boundaries at sea.

My research has been motivated by personal and family narrations, but also stories inscribed in the collective memory of the Greek diaspora. My previous exposure to Global History, however, has further influenced my thinking beyond national narratives. Although Greek migration constitutes a primary focus, the dissertation situates it within the broader framework of Mediterranean mobility, examining the transatlantic passages of migrant and non-migrant passengers. Their study demonstrates that during the crossing, the ship functioned as a terraqueous meeting place that reproduced the social and cultural diversity of the region even beyond its geographical limits. These floating spaces stood out as social spaces of unequal and often asymmetrical relations where passengers, crew members, and officials interacted, negotiated, and sometimes clashed. In doing so, this project offers new perspectives for understanding the economic and social industry of transit and its intersection with migration. More broadly, it seeks to bring migration studies, maritime and global history, as well as visual history, into conversation, moving beyond the existing historiography, which has often treated each topic as a distinctive theme.

Another part of my research engages with visual material, illustrating how they may serve as analytical tools for historical interpretation, particularly in the study of migration. It is not new that historians are often hesitant in categorizing visual archives as historical sources. Nevertheless, more recently, scholars have foregrounded photography as a valuable historical source. How can we, thus, utilize visual representations in this particular context? The existence or absence of visual material helps us identify patterns and reveal unsighted protagonists and phenomena. The hardships of the migration process are, on many occasions, silenced, whether by governments, the press, shipping lines or the dominant ethnic narrative. The migrant is often invisible. Here, we should also think about the hegemonic dominance of archives and the overall problem of migratory archives. Material developed by migrants and their communities outside institutional archives is given less significance and often disappears. On the other hand, consideration of different image agents, including but not limited to migrants, opens a path to alternative narratives and accessibility to knowledge.

Studying transatlantic migration evidently poses challenges in identifying archives. These materials were stored in different locations, large institutions, smaller archives, and private collections across Europe and the United States. Their scattering, a result of the mobility of the period, presents certain challenges but offers an analytical advantage: it allows us to discover where, how, and by whom archives related to migration are preserved. The absence of large institutions and organized archival collections on the Greek diaspora (except for smaller-scale initiatives in the United States) raises important questions regarding the study of Greek migration and how it is perceived in both realms. My research, therefore, examines archival material located not only in different regions but also coming from diverse sources: state archives, shipping companies, migrants, small family collections, and professional and amateur photographers. Despite these challenges, at this stage of my research I have identified key sources and planned further archival visits in the United States and Europe.

I consider myself fortunate to be a member of the ERC-funded MEDMACH project, part of an interdisciplinary group whose historical lens navigates across borders and beyond national narratives. Building on this resource, I aim to take my research beyond the boundaries of a single country by combining perspectives and archives from particular spaces within and beyond the Mediterranean. Such an approach underscores the importance of enhancing diasporic dialogue and synergies between institutions to understand the development of this transnational phenomenon, which profoundly shaped societies on both sides of the Atlantic.

February 15, 2026

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