The idea of ‘ Diaspora,’ used first in the traditional world, has recently acquired a renewed significance in the new century . Diaspora refers to the dispersion of a given group of people among other groups of people with different cultures and lifestyle. Currently, discussions about diaspora major on the African and the Caribbean Diasporas in Jamaica. There is a remarkable difference between the people in diaspora and the immigrants 1 . The Diasporas usually preserve their home culture and nurse the hope that one day they will be going back home, while the immigrants tend to be assimilated into the new culture.
Being a Diaspora often upholds a mixture of feelings and reactions. As a matter of fact, all scholars living in the Diaspora identify that the victim tradition is actually at the heart of any existing definition of the concept. For most Diasporas, experiences in their contemporary nation-states tend to appear enriching and innovative and at the same time enervating and fearful. Furthermore, Diasporas encourage the nation-state by clinging to the sense of belonging to a particular nation with its language, norms, and ideologies. Take for example the African populations who move to European counties or the United States of America; they tend to come together and live in a particular location because they come from the same region. By living together, their languages, ceremonies such as weddings and religious events are practiced most of the times. The ability to travel across the globe with ease and improved international communication due to improving technology also enables them to keep contacts and continuous communication back home. The common identity and feeling of solidarity preserves their nationalist ideologies.
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When a person goes to live among a different people, their settlement in the new environment will depend on the speed at which they can relate the two cultures . On finding the people who share a similar ethnic background and nationalism, settling in becomes easy. This explains why the Diasporas tend to have people with shared ethnicity or nationality. More often, the parent nationalist ideologies tend to contrast with those of the host nation. Such scenarios have resulted in debates because some natives also start to feel the insecurity of their sovereignty in their nations.
In both the Jewish and African Diasporas, homeland from which the ancestors originated is referred to. They dispersed in different locations each believing in their historical origins and holding to the belief that they will go back to their ancestral homeland. In the African definition, the ancestral homeland has the geographical locations with defined political structures and national ideologies. For the Jewish Diasporas, they have for a long time lacked the geographical homeland. Their homeland definition lies in the cultural practices which are majorly defined in their religion . The Jews are spread all over within communities, but they still preserve loyalty to their religion. The idea of the ancestral homeland as defined in both the Jewish and African Diasporas triggers consciousness in different ways. For the Jewish, the fact that their homeland is based mostly on historical happenings and religion makes them assume some inferiority mentality 2 . They always believe that they are not fully welcomed in their host nations and that they always have to protect their culture . For the African Diasporas, having a definite geographical homeland, their beliefs, actions, and practices are based on their knowledge about their original home . This kind of Diasporas mostly tends to follow activities back home and hope that after a time they will be able to be reunited within their ancestral homeland. They hope to work hard so that they can save and invest in the homeland .
In the long run, both communities suffer double consciousness resulting from the fact that their diasporic experience does not restrict much involvement in their partners’ activities like the Jewish Diasporas. The assumption of general rejection and impartial welcoming by the Jews enables them only to consider their common religious beliefs. Therefore, they have a definite identity within their diverse religions.
By the fact that Diasporas live in different countries away from their ancestral home, there are cases where cultural practices and religions may clash. Those born in their ancestral homes and the generation born in the host country will have some contrasting beliefs especially in the western cultures, whose most practices are modernized and appealing to the young generation. Looking at the Chinese-American women as an example, the traditional Asian culture requires that the elders be given some level of respect. But in the American culture where they live, the difference is observed in class, language, and level of education 3 . That explains why the young Chinese-American lady who was supervising the elderly traditional lady at work could discipline her elders when they made a mistake.
The elite diaspora notion in the cultures where it is tolerated might, in the end, lead to erosion of some traditional cultures. The new generations who are born in the host countries are expected to learn their ancestral cultures from parents while what happens when they are at school or in social gatherings with their native peers is different. They will end up developing new and even more appealing culture, thus feeling some slight difference from their parents. Both the Armenian and Jewish Diasporas are in a way similar in the sense that both resulted from regional oppression. The Armenians departed their homeland because of the genocide, a nd have spread across nations. Though they hold their ancestral homeland values and culture, occupying regions with differing beliefs is favoring the ultimate effect of diluting the traditional ones.
Diaspora exceptionalism is the act of acknowledging cultural differences of particular individuals and respecting their beliefs. The exceptionalism has allowed the peaceful coexistence between the Diasporas and the natives. The African, Chinese and the Jewish Diasporas can interact, and still maintain their original identity of belonging to their ancestral homeland. The new generation that emerges learns about their real identity ensuring that the traditional and homeland values are preserved. The new generation then adopt a new culture that is a blend of the things they pick and choose from the two conflicting cultures .
Bibliography
Clifford, James. "Diasporas." Cultural anthropology 9, no. 3 (1994): 302-338.
Lowe, Lisa. "Heterogeneity, hybridity, multiplicity: marking Asian American differences." Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies 1, no. 1 (1991): 24-44.
Safran, William. "Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return." Diaspora: A journal of transnational studies 1, no. 1 (1991): 83-99.
1 Clifford, James. "Diasporas." Cultural anthropology 9, no. 3 (1994): 302-338.
2 Lowe, Lisa. "Heterogeneity, hybridity, multiplicity: marking Asian American differences." Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies 1, no. 1 (1991): 24-44
3 Safran, William. "Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return." Diaspora: A journal of transnational studies 1, no. 1 (1991): 83-99.
