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 Diasporas and the Caribbean diaspora in Jamaica. There is a remarkable difference between the people in diaspora and the immigrants 1 . The Diasporas usually preserve their home culture in some ways and nurse the hope that one day they will be going back home, while the immigrants tend to be assimilated into the new culture.
Diasporas do encourage the nation-state by clinging to the sense of belonging to a particular nation with its language, culture, 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 practices are practices 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 oneness also help to keep the nationalist ideologies.
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When a person goes to live among a different people, his/her settlement in the new environment will depend on the speed at which he/she can relate the two different 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 the host nation’s ideologies and cultures. Such scenarios have resulted in debates because some natives also start to feel the insecurity of their sovereignty in their nations.
Articulation of ancestral homeland by the African and Jewish Diasporas
In both the Jewish and African Diasporas, homeland from which the ancestors originated is referred to. Both the Jews and Africans dispersed in different locations believe in their historical origins and hold to the belief that they will go back to their ancestral homeland. In the African definition, the ancestral homeland has got 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 is therefore in the cultural practices which are majorly defined in the Jewish religion. The Jews are therefore spread all over in communities, and they remain true 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 more 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 own culture. For the African Diasporas, they have a definite geographical homeland. Their beliefs, actions, and practices are therefore based on the history and knowledge they have about home. The kind of Diasporas mostly tends to follow activities back home and hope that after a time they will be able to be reunited with their ancestral homeland.
For the African Diaspora, they most of the times experience double consciousness. The feeling results from the fact that their diasporic experience does not restrict so much, involvement in the host country’s 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. They, therefore, have a definite identity in whichever region they are.
Elite diaspora
By the fact that Diasporas live in different countries which is not their ancestral home, there are cases where cultural practices and religions will 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 activities seem so modern and appealing to the young generation. Looking at the Chinese-American women 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 is 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, therefore, develop the new and more appealing culture and 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, and they have spread across nations. Though they hold their ancestral homeland values and culture, occupying regions with differing beliefs is having the ultimate effect of diluting the traditional ones.
Diaspora exceptionalism is the act of acknowledging the cultural difference 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 maintain their original identity of belonging to their ancestral homeland. The new generation that comes about learns about their real identity ensuring that the traditional and homeland values are preserved.
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.
