To evaluate my assignment click here
The
term Diaspora and its significance with reference to the essay “Imaginary
Homeland”
M.K
Bhavnagar University
Department
of English
Sem 3
Name- Hema
Goswami
Roll no. 13
Enrollment
no. 2069108420180020
Paper no.
11- The Postcolonial Literature
Topic: The
term Diaspora and its significance with reference to the essay “Imaginary
Homeland”
Introduction
The term
Diaspora mostly refers to the dispersion of Jews beyond Israel. In broad
meaning it can be taken as the dispersion or spread of any people from their
original homeland.
This is very
much significant term, especially in postcolonial era. Number of people after
Independence migrated from one place to other, some are willingly, and some are
unwillingly. This is long term process. There are so many reasons behind the
dispersion of huge masses, far away from their native land to an unknown land.
Diaspora
The number
of people migrated from one place to another is always keep on changing. It is
more in postcolonial era, and lesser in this modern era. Sometimes it becomes
vice-versa due to some economic reasons.
Diaspora is
refers to the scattered population whose origin is somewhere else. It is
involuntary mass dispersions. Historically it is taken from the expulsion of
Jews from Israel (wikipedia contributors)
Jewish
Diaspora
The
dispersion of Jews from Israel is also mention in the Hebrew Bible. There is
one word exile which means the fate of israelites who were taken into exile
from the kingdom of Israel and the Judahits from the kingdom of Judah. While in
exile “Judahits” becomes “Jews”
A Jewish
Diaspora existed for several centuries. Before the middle of the first century
CE in addition to Judea, Syria and Babylonia, large Jewish communities existed
in Roman province of Egypt, Cyrene and Crete and in Rome itself. The Judean
population revolted against the Roman Empire in 66CE (wikipedia
contributors) .
Finally in
the twelfth century the Jews settled in a country they could call it as their
own. Jews used a worst possible judgment and selected a strip of land that was
a corridor for the armies warring empires. The Jews were have to pay for their
error judgment by being decimated in battle, sold into slavery or deported to
alien lands. Yet they showed up persistently at the same old place, building a
new their little strip of real estate which has been alternatively called
Canaan, Palestine, Israel.
Palestinian
Diaspora
Palestinian
Diaspora has a long history of migration. The first large emigration wave of
Arab Christians out of Palestine began in the mid 19th century as a
response to the oppression of Palestinian Christians in Ottoman Palestine (wikipedia
contributors) .
During the war of Arab with Israeli(1948), Palestinian has experienced exile
and migrated to different host countries around the world. More than 70,000
refugees become homeless. They lost their “Homeland” and are living in “Hostland”.
Many migrated in search of job, education, better living. But many more, for
example an average of 21,000 Palestinians per year were forced out of
Israeli-controlled areas.
Idea
of Imaginary Homeland
“Imaginary
Homeland” is a collection of essays written by Salman Rushdie, one of the
Diaspora writers. This book covers a wide variety of topics, Imaginary Homeland
is one of them. All the essays under it are based on Salman Rushdie’s real life
experience and his contemporary time scenario. Rushdie throughout his works
focuses upon the curious position of migrant or the exile. Salman believes that
the act of migration is one that profoundly changes the individuals,
transforming the relationship of the migrant with both his/her home country
and new host country. Some issues like “home” and “belonging” are very
crucial issues, Migrants believes that their Idea of home becomes detached from
their home country. A migrant always suffers a lot. There is one quote in the
essay which reflects the condition of migrants.
“…It is the
fate of migrants to be stripped of history, to stand naked amidst the scorn of
strangers upon whom they see rich clothing, the brocades of continuity and the
eyebrows of belonging”.
Migrants are
able to combine both their home culture and host culture in their life, which
enables them to explore their Diaspora identity (Access
teacher) .
Homeland
and Hostland
It is
important to know the Diasporization process to understand the unfolding of
immigration, and Dediasporization which shapes both homeland and hostland.
Dediasporization can occur in both the sending and the receiving countries. It
is defined as the regrouping of dispersed people, when a community returned to
its place of origin. This equates the physical relocation to the homeland. It
is also the process by which a diasporic subject either reacquires homeland
citizenship by returning to the sending country, effects generational
assimilation in the host state or reinscribes himself or herself in the
transnational circuit of transnation state (Laguerre) .
Therefore there are
three distinct locales, where dediasporization can be affected:-
i)
The
homeland
ii)
The
hostland
iii)
The
translocal arena
African
Trans-Atlantic slave trade
It is very
inhuman example of Diaspora which involved the transportation by slave traders
of enslaved African people, mainly to Americas (wikipedia
contributors) .
Mostly only Africans are transported from central and western Africa who had
been sold to other Western Europeans. Portuguese are the beginner who engaged in Atlantic slave trade. The
first Africans imported to the English colonies were classified as “indentured servants” and also as
“apprentices for life”. In the 17th century slavery was a legal
right. Slaves and their offspring becomes the legal property of their owners
and children who born to slave mother are also considered as slave and were
sold at markets with other goods and services.
Major slave
trading nations:-
i)
Portuguese
ii)
British
iii)
French
iv)
Spanish
v)
Dutch
Current
estimates are that about 12 million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic,
and more are purchased by the traders.
These all
slaves are also human beings, they also wants to live in their homeland. They
don’t want to migrate but left with no choices. They have to live in unknown
land, serving unknown people, because they are poor, they are black. There is
always a question of Racism in transporting black Africans to the country of
white people where they are humiliated, insulted, because of their skin color,
there poor condition. They become the object of fun for white people. They
missed their native land, they wants to return back to their homeland, but they
can’t. This is the situation of slave, condition of slave in the past time. In
present there were many laws made to ban these all illegal acts and the number
of slaves is lesser and lesser than the ancient time.
Italian
Diaspora
It is the
large scale of emigration of Italian from Italy.
Major
Italian Diasporas
i)
Around
1880 to 1940s( Began after the Unification of Italy and ended with the rise of
Fascism in Italy)
ii)
Started
after the end of world war II to 1970s
These both
major Diaspora in Italy consist together largest voluntary emigration period in
history (wikipedia contributors) . Around 13,000,000
left Italy in between 1880-1976. They migrated because of social and economic
problems. They are facing financial crisis in their country. Youth are remained
unemployed. Therefore they face the need of Diaspora.
There are
three different waves of Italian Diaspora:-
i)
The
first wave occurred between the unification of Italy in 1861 and 1900.
ii)
The
second wave occurred between 1900-40 during the beginning of world war I
iii)
The
third wave occurred following World War II along with Europeans.
Reasons
behind Migration:-
i)
Financial
crisis
ii)
Poverty
iii)
Unemployment
iv)
Lack
of land
v)
Political
problem
vi)
Economical
problem
vii)
Organized
crime
viii)
Overpopulation
of southern Italy
Norman
Conquest of England
During
Norman Conquest of England so many Anglo-Saxon warriors and their families
immigrated to different places. Norman Conquest of England was the 11th
century invasion of England by and army of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French
soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy. Anglo-Saxons were a people who
inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century. They comprise people
from Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe.
Conclusion
Therefore in
all cases, the term Diaspora carries a sense of displacement. The populations are separated from their
national territory. People who are migrated have a hope to return back to their
homeland at some point. There is nostalgic feeling in them with the loss of
their native land. On the other hand individuals have multiple homes throughout
their Diaspora, with different reasons for maintaining some form of attachment
to each.
Works Cited
Access teacher. How Rushdie views a diasporic
identity in his works imaginary homelands, shame, and satanic verses? 10
july 2013. 3 november 2018
<https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/am-trying-trace-salman-rushdies-diasporic-429380>.
Laguerre, Michel S.
"Dediasporization: Homeland and Hostland." Journal of nonverbal
behaviour, Springer (2006): 131-161.
wikipedia
contributors. Atlantic slave trade. 27 september 2018. 3 november 2018
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlantic_slave_trade&oldid=861408249>.
—. diaspora. 28
october 2018. 3 november 2018
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diaspora&oldid=866189175>.
—. Italian
diaspora. 17 october 2018. 3 november 2018
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Italian_diaspora&oldid=864478459>.
—. Jewish Diaspora.
11 august 2018. 3 november 2018
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewish_diaspora&oldid=854423377>.
—. Palestinian
diaspora. 9 september 2018. 3 november 2018
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Palestinian_diaspora&oldid=858818812>.
Congratulation for the great post. Those who come to read your Information will find lots of helpful and informative tips. HPAT 2021
ReplyDelete