Diaspora Studies

Artikelenreeks Turkse volksmuziek

by Liselotte Sels

Reeks artikelen geschreven voor het tijdschrift van Intercultureel Centrum De Centrale, Gent (2011-2012)

Το έθνος και η ελληνική διασπορά στον πολιτικό λόγο του Κωνσταντίνου Τσάτσου [The Greek nation and the Greek diaspora in Konstantinos Tsatsos’ political thought]

by Elpida Vogli

δημοσιεύτηκε στο Κωνσταντίνος Τσάτσος, φιλόσοφος, συγγραφέας, πολιτικός (Πρακτικά Διεθνούς Επιστημονικού Συνεδρίου, Αθήνα, 6-8 Νοεμβρίου 2009), Γρανάδα-Αθήνα: Κέντρο Βυζαντινών, Νεοελληνικών και Κυπριακών Σπουδών, Εταιρεία Φίλων Κ. και Ι. Τσάτσου, 2010, σσ. 667-682.
[published in the Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference “Konstantinos Tsatsos, the philosopher, the writer, the politician” (Athens, 6-8 November 2009), Granada-Athens: Centro de Estudios Byzantinos, Neogriegos y Chipriotas, The Society of Konstantinos Tsatsos’ Friends, pp. 667-682. (in Greek)]

"Expanding Materially-Instantiated Social & Spatial Relations: Almanac of the Dead as a Reconceptualization of History & Modernity"

by Laurie Rodrigues

My study engages Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead (1991) with Thomas Edison’s short film, “Sioux Ghost... more My study engages Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead (1991) with Thomas Edison’s short film, “Sioux Ghost Dance,” from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show (c.1894). I will demonstrate how Almanac re-imagines traditional social and spatial arrangements, revealing the historically-specific space of social relations and re-announcing the spatial and temporal proportions of that space. The novel’s re-mapping of the Americas constitutes an alternatively-networked politics of pure antagonism that simultaneously betrays the discord of “coherent” networks and territorially-confined forms of modernity, but also the antagonism that belies the identitarian subject him/herself. This paper elaborates Almanac’s reading of capitalist networks and other Euro-American epistemologies as configuring a logic of stasis. Aligning Edison’s film with moments from the novel, I argue that such spatializations imagine actors within a blank space outside of history, figuring them as static scenery to the progress of modernity. Highlighting the virtual and material entanglement of spatial and social relations, Silko’s Almanac of the Dead asserts that social relations (as material practices) are limited to—and thus refigured by—the spatial formations that they actualize. The novel’s materialist strategy for resistance evades multiculturalism’s politicized and territorially-confined model of identity. Encountered in this manner, I argue that Silko’s novel performs a necessary re-configuration of alternatives to existing, static nationalisms and liberal multicultural identity politics.

Review of: Parsis in India and the Diaspora. Edited by John R. Hinnells and Alan Williams, Routledge South Asian Religion Series. London, New York: Routledge, …

by Arash Zeini

Slavery and Colonialism: The Worst Terrorism on Africa

by Mohamed Eno

Co-authored with Omar A. Eno, Mohamed H. Ingiriis, and Jamal M. Haji; Published in African Renaissance, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2012.

Humans need not justify terrorism of any kind, regardless of whether one is Muslim, Christian or Jew, because it is... more Humans need not justify terrorism of any kind, regardless of whether one is Muslim, Christian or Jew, because it is the axis of evil and devastation of mankind. However, the deliberate use of the term terrorism in recent decades was carefully selected, mainly, against a certain religion (Islam). The idea was then globally politicized by the Western world. Leaving that scholarly view in its own right, we disagree with the opinion raising terrorism as the devil’s just-born child of evil, when in reality Africans had been terrorized for centuries as slaves and human chattel. Hence the basis for the concept of this thesis: conceptualizing the episode of ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ from the broader perspective of its practice from the Middle Passage or the Atlantic Slave Trade. To portray that argument and broaden the scope of the debate over this critically sensitive subject, we divided the discussion into three sections: an examination of what constitutes terrorism and terrorist; history of terrorism and terrorists from an Africa perspective; and the ideological constraints within the subject of terrorism as practiced by the US and its Western allies.

“Traditions, Trajectories and Transformative Migrations: The Multifarious Diasporic Contextualities of Nair, Nazareth and Vassanji’s Fictions.” Journal of the African Literature Association 6.2 (Winter 2011/Spring 2012): 61-82.

by Aaron L. Rosenberg

The fictions of Moyez G.Vassanji, Mira Nair and Peter Nazareth
represent a crucial commodity. These two writers... more The fictions of Moyez G.Vassanji, Mira Nair and Peter Nazareth
represent a crucial commodity. These two writers and one filmmaker’s works are manifestly utilitarian in our attempt as literary scholars and citizens of the world to understand what is meant by the ‘African Diaspora.’ Their narratives interrogate the racialized and divisive accounts of East Africans that consciously
and chauvinistically self – define as African or Asian. While all of the texts make clear that there is a certain risk involved in attempting to construct systems of identity formation along syncretic lines, they also make explicit the dangers of the formation and defense of exclusive communities based on skin color. These artists are attempting, and succeeding in exploding the myth of a monolithic racial imperative for African cultural citizenship. This myth of racial uniformity as a prerequisite for African authenticity has been constructed and exploited by
members of numerous ethnic communities throughout East Africa at one time or another in order to further their political or economical goals (Gregory: 161).What the artists dealt with in this paper are seeking to do is to counteract such immutable inscriptions of identity and concomitant allegiance and, in their own cases to reinscribe their self – identificatory auras with an identity which can best be described as “Afro-Asian.’ The immediate importance of this endeavor is illustrated by the historical atrocities and terrorism visited upon Afro –Asians
by their fellow countrymen. The seemingly unquestioning or ambivalent attitude of the academic community toward these questions represents, albeit through an absence of discursive activity rather than an excess of aggression, a serious
impediment to an understanding of the realities of cultural diversity in East African contexts. These Afro-Asian diasporic narratives can illuminate such situations and broaden our understanding of what it means to be ‘African’ in East Africa.

Sojourners, Gangxi and Clan Associations: Social Capital and Overseas Chinese Tourism to China

by Alan A. Lew

With Alan Wong. Published in D. Timothy and T. Coles, eds., (2004) Tourism, Diasporas and Space, pp. 202-214. London: Routledge.

Unlike traditional forms of economic capital, human capital, or cultural capital (all of which relate to attributes of... more Unlike traditional forms of economic capital, human capital, or cultural capital (all of which relate to attributes of individuals), social capital is situated in the quality of relationships and is not easily quantifiable or measured (Mohan and Mohan 2002). Friendship and goodwill are examples of this. They are best created through face-to-face interactions and they become resources when “mobilized to facilitate action” (Adler and Kwon 2002). Tourism can be used to enhance social capital by bringing people together in face-to-face interactions that can, in properly structured circumstances, lead to mutually beneficial relationships. Belief in this aspect of tourism underlies support for sustainable tourism approaches and ecotourism product developments, as well as broader assertions of tourism as a force for intercultural understanding and global peace-making . Unfortunately, few tourist experiences actually achieve the goal of creating social capital, even if the capital is as amorphous as understanding and peace.

Existential Tourism and the Homeland: The Overseas Chinese Experience

by Alan A. Lew

Published with Alan Wong (2005) In Cartier, C. and Lew, A.A., eds., Seductions of Place: Geographical perspectives on globalization and touristed landscapes, pp. 286-300 (Chapter 18), Abingdon, UK: Routledge. (pre-publication version)

This chapter explores conditions of existential tourism among overseas Chinese, focusing on relations with their... more This chapter explores conditions of existential tourism among overseas Chinese, focusing on relations with their ancestral homeland areas in China. Like other disaporic ethnic groups, overseas Chinese migrants, in both historic and contemporary times, have followed long established paths, bound by ‘networks of ethnicity’, which “extend the group’s identity spatially, and are an important facet of social and economic organization, particularly within migrant communities” (Mitchell 2000: 392). Highly structured ethnic networks support existential tourism to China and several major fields of influence shape this structuration process, overlapping in different ways. Overseas Chinese institutional structures support ideas about traditional Chinese values, thereby working to enable and maintain a sense of ‘Chineseness’. ‘Traditional values’, however, have also adapted to meet the special conditions of the migrant/diasporic community, as migration creates both ‘outsider’ and ‘home out there’ experiences, the evolution of multiple homes, and the need for mechanisms to overcome geographic spaces between old, new and transitory homes (Leung 2003). The influence of space-shrinking technologies and globalizing modernity provide further realms of influence, shaping the form and experience of both migration and ‘Chineseness, by, for example, enabling closer relationships and easing the strain of return visits.

SSCB Sonrası Dönemde Türkiye-Ermenistan İlişkiler

by Uluslararası İlişkiler

Ali Faik Demir, "SSCB Sonrası Dönemde Türkiye-Ermenistan İlişkileri", Uluslararası İlişkiler, Cilt 2, Sayı 5 (Bahar), 2005

SSCB sonrasında Türkiye’nin dış politikasında yeni bir açılım fırsatı karşısına çıktı: Kafkasya. Bu bölgede ve... more SSCB sonrasında Türkiye’nin dış politikasında yeni bir açılım fırsatı karşısına çıktı: Kafkasya. Bu bölgede ve özellikle üç bağımsız devletten oluşan Güney Kafkasya’da, Türkiye için en kritik ve hassas konumdaki ülke ise Ermenistan’dı. Türkiye Ermenistan ilişkileri, geçmişten gelen olumsuz mirasa rağmen, SSCB sonrasında kısmen de olsa farklı bir düzleme getirilmek istendi. Bu doğrultuda Petrosyan döneminde iki tarafın da olumlu girişimleri görüldü, fakat bu süreçte ortaya çıkan Yukarı Karabağ sorunu ilişkileri belirler hale geldi. Halefi Koçaryan döneminde, Yukarı Karabağ sorununun yanında Diaspora’nın etkisi arttı ve yine buna bağlı olarak sözde “soykırım” konusu gerek ikili ilişkilerde gerekse uluslararası platformlarda daha fazla gündeme getirilmeye başlandı. Türkiye ile ilişkilerin bozulacağı düşünülen Koçaryan döneminde şahin bir söylemle yola çıkılmasına rağmen özellikle ikinci başkanlık döneminde bir yumuşama yaşandı. Resmi ilişkilerin ve görüşmelerin dışında, ikili ilişkilerde olumlu, barışçı ve önyargısız bir ortam sağlamak için 2001’de kurulan Türk-Ermeni Barış Komisyonu önemli bir adım olarak kabul edildi.

THE CONVERSION NARRATIVE OF SAMIRA: FROM SHI'A ISLAM TO MARY, HER CHURCH, AND HER SON

by Duane Alexander Miller

IRANIAN DIASPORA CHRISTIANS IN THE AMERICAN MIDWEST & SCOTLAND: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, PRESENT REALITIES, & FUTURE CHALLENGES

by Duane Alexander Miller

The Secret World of God: Aesthetics, Relationships, and the Conversion of “Frances” from Shi’a Islam to Christianity

by Duane Alexander Miller

Familles, réseaux et confiance dans l'économie de l'époque moderne. Diasporas marchandes et commerce interculturel/Trading diasporas and cross-cultural trade: Family, networks and trust in the Early modern economy

by Guillaume Calafat

Published in 'Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales', 2011

Comment entretenir des relations de commerce durables avec des étrangers, différents par leurs ethnies, leurs langues... more Comment entretenir des relations de commerce durables avec des étrangers, différents par leurs ethnies, leurs langues ou leurs religions ? Comment leur faire confiance ou s’assurer de leur honnêteté malgré la distance matérielle ? L’historiographie a coutume de mettre en avant la forte cohésion ethnique des diasporas marchandes pour expliquer leur succès dans l’économie globalisée de l’époque moderne. Dans son dernier ouvrage, Francesca Trivellato remet en question cette vision essentialiste. À travers l’étude de la correspondance d’Ergas & Silvera, une société en nom collectif sépharade basée dans le port toscan de Livourne, l’historienne montre l’hétérogénéité de leurs réseaux marchands : les juifs sépharades pouvaient coopérer tout aussi bien avec des coreligionnaires qu’avec des catholiques, voire des hindous à Goa, en fonction des perspectives de gain qu’offraient les associés potentiels. Cela ne dissolvait pas pour autant les préjugés existants entre les différents groupes. L’ouvrage incite de manière convaincante à entreprendre une analyse comparée des diasporas marchandes et offre un exemple réussi d’histoire connectée.
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How did merchants build stable commercial relations with strangers, that is, with traders from other ethnic groups, who spoke different languages, and professed different religions? How did they trust each other and monitor their agents’ honesty in spite of the long distance that separated them? A common historiographic explanation points to the supposed strong ethnic cohesion of trading diasporas in order to explain their success in the global economy of the early modern period. In her recent book, Francesca Trivellato challenges this essentialist view. Through the study of the business letters of Ergas & Silvera, a general partnership based in the Tuscan port of Livorno in the first half of the eighteenth century, the author shows the heterogeneity of its trading networks: the Sephardim from Livorno could cooperate with coreligionists as well as with Catholics in Europe and Hindus in Goa, according to the incentives offered by various potential partners. This cooperation, however, did not lead to the dissolution of existing prejudices between the different groups. The book convincingly encourages scholars to compare trading diasporas and displays a successful example of a connected “global history on a small scale”.

The European Context of the Greek Great Idea: The suggestions of a Greek Newspaper in London [Vretanikos Astir (The British Star), 1860-1862)

by Elpida Vogli

published in the Proceedings of the 26th Hellenic Historical Conference, (Thessaloniki, 28-29 May 2005), Thessaloniki, pp. 143-154 (in Greek)

Mediating the boundaries: Second-generation Korean American adolescents’ use of transnational Korean media as markers of social boundaries

by David Oh

International Communication Gazette, 2012; This is the second of three chapters I am adapting from my dissertation.

This article builds on media use scholarship by focusing on an understudied population, second- generation Korean... more This article builds on media use scholarship by focusing on an understudied population, second- generation Korean American adolescents and their use of transnational media. The primary findings are that second-generation Korean Americans use transnational media as cultural resources through which they construct “new ethnicities” that are situated at the borders of their identities as members of the Korean diaspora whose everyday experiences are rooted in their status as marginalized racialized ethnic minorities in the U.S. Second-generation Korean Americans build inter-ethnic boundaries to create a unique identity that separates themselves from the controlling gaze of dominant culture and to build intra-ethnic boundaries to differentiate between authentic and inauthentic Korean Americans. To do so, they draw on knowledge of Korean popular culture as it comes to be known through transnational Korean media. Finally, their use of Korean media is also influenced by their local views of gender and, in particular,
masculinity.

Windrush and The Mingling of Britain

by John Thieme

Available on Times Higher Education site -- as above. Some errors have crept into the e-version!

A review of four books published in 1998, at the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Empire... more A review of four books published in 1998, at the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush in Britain.

Turkish folk music in Ghent - Musical knowledge in a diaspora context

by Liselotte Sels

Published in proceedings of 2010 conference of European Association for music in Schools

Feeling diasporic

by Lauren Wagner

Available in the Tilburg Papers in Cultural Studies, #21

Memoir as Iranian exile cultural production: A case study of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis series

by Amy Malek

Infinity and Other Possibilities: following the footfall of expatriate Australian women writers in Greece – Charmian Clift, Beverley Farmer and Sue Woolfe.

by Shé Hawke

A ficto-critical journal article from The Sydney Journal of Literature and Aesthetics

Tracing the footfall of Australian expatriate women writers , writing from Greece. Some reference to Bourdieu's... more Tracing the footfall of Australian expatriate women writers , writing from Greece. Some reference to Bourdieu's treatise on habitus, filed and agency