Migration and Diaspora

Migration and Diaspora: Craze, Significance and Challenges

(1)

Patrick Iroegbu

Alberta, Canada

Introduction

When some people, particularly those who are obviously less informed, come across a few successful immigrants return home, they think of migration as a goal in life. The opportunity to go abroad to turn their lives around, for such people, is a constant negotiation and prayers. More often than not, the phrase – checking out has become synonymous with going abroad and residing there for good. Unsure of their world at home, they think “migration” and “diaspora.” Given a forced or voluntary opportunity, they hope to build a valued new life in a strange place. Here, I use the word “strange” somehow to indicate the unknown future that migration and diasporism can shape. Such a curiosity for a better life abroad is a normal cultural psychological thrust no one is to be blamed. Many are ignorant, or fully unaware, of what living abroad completely entails. Mass media images of life scenes and sights abroad do not exactly show the details of the reality out there. In some way, there is much fantasy and craze about life abroad as a best option for continued existence. Another way to say someone is ‘living abroad’ is to say one is ‘in Diaspora.’

Being in diaspora in the light of migration cannot be discussed without reference to the Jews. This is true as the saying goes that the Europeans invented ‘colonialism’ and the ‘concept of the world’, the Jews originated diaspora as ‘Jewry centers’ and the Americans systematized “slavery and racism.” In time and space, African peoples had been part of the story of forced and changing forms of diasporism in the local and global scenes – therefore provided the basis for the invention of the universal declaration of fundamental human rights - of December 10^th 1948. The proclamation moment qualified life in diaspora with official value and legitimacy. Not only is life away from home a decision in search for the necessities of life, it is also a type which could take many forms. That is, migration or diasporism is substantially a human capital issue involving an individual or group. It is also structural in terms of forces that push people around for safety and income as the dual market theory suggests.

Some questions one can then raise include why individuals, families or a group of people move or shuffle places? From where did the term “diaspora” come? What is the significance of diaspora in the modern world? How is life inside diaspora experienced? With these questions, this essay explores the definition of diaspora and shows its significance and challenges in everyday lives of those involved in migration. I offer insight into the meaning of becoming a diasporist and what life is like inside being in the diaspora and how to share the life experiences and skills back home. So who is a diasporist and what sense does diaspora make in a changing world and cultures will be the key focus. In addition, frustrating obstacles people in diaspora face with attempts to help at home will be highlighted. Overall, this essay will be presented in two parts (I and II) with hope readers will follow the two parts being offered to get to the comprehensive substance of the write up.

Origin and Connotation

The word “diaspora” is a quintessence of Judaism created outside Jewishland. Diaspora is derived from Greek word diaspeirein meaning to sow, disperse - “scatter about.” It signifies commonly that body of Jews scattered about in the gentile world outside Palestine. More linguistically analyzed, dia becomes through, some sort of pass-over of one of two sides of human population sporadically, leading to moving out to find identity and roles elsewhere. Here spora from sporadic implies popping up and populating such that when dia and spora are joined as a word – dia~spora - will entail the part of Jews moving around in synchronic and diachronic time and space for a substantive Jewish life; and this by extension includes other cultural groups in diaspora or outside their homeland. One can say that diaspora is the ‘double’ of the ‘root culture’ or ‘heritage’ outside of homeland. The New Penguin English Dictionary (2001) treats diaspora as a word which refers to Jews living outside Palestine or modern Israel. That means the settling or area of settlement of Jews outside Palestine after the Babylonian exile. Likewise, The Oxford English Dictionary - Canadian Edition (2004) delineates diaspora as dispersion involving the Jews among the Gentiles mainly in the 8th – 6^th c. BC. Dispersion is thus attributive to Jewish communities outside the state of Israel, as well as any other group of people similarly dispersed. The Collier’s Encyclopedia (1981) refers ‘diaspora jargon’ to mean other centers of Jewish life outside the country whose cohesion and perpetuations were rendered possible by the development of the disciplines of the Jewish religion. This led to Theodor Herzl’s concept of Political Zionism of 1895, which for the first time had as its goal the attainment of a permanent state of Jewish state in Palestine. Jewry centers such as German Jewry and American Jewry had served as development centers of many ramifications in the history of civilization.

Diaspora by implication is therefore a dispersal or sporadic migration of people originally coming from the same country or having a common culture such as the Igbo cultural group and other African communities in diaspora alike American diaspora, Caribbean diaspora, Filipino diaspora, and Chinese diaspora. A diasporist is one or group involved in scattering. You are, by this connotation, a diasporist with a life in diaspora if you migrated from elsewhere singly or in group and you are physically living elsewhere such as Canada from which you are maintaining a strong link with your homeland. Permanent settlers, students, workers, refugees and lived-in diplomats and professionals are examples.

Uses of the Term ‘Diaspora’

Many societies have words translating diaspora. For example, the Igbo of Nigeria refer to diaspora as nwanne di na mba, which literally means kinsmen/women in another society. Related expressions are lived-in-goer, traveller or onye odu ije, obi na mba (sojourner). For short, a lived-in-traveller or sojourner is called onye odu ije as opposed to oje mba, onye nje m - a traveller, tourist in a literary sense. It is interesting to note how the Igbo use onye odu ije, or sojourner here. The word odu from the middle of the phrase onye odu ije signifies not only literally the buttocks, tail; but also means to sit, reside, stay, and live-in with regard to migration, staying and being in diaspora. Basically this suggests that diaspora as a term has long been with cultures before it gained political meaning in literary communication.

The word “diaspora” was first used by historians and social scientists to refer to the dispersal of the Jews from Palestine following their defeat by the Romans in the year A.D. 70. Max Dimont’s book captioned Jews, God, and History (1962) reinforces this claim in many other dimensions. But the continued application of the term has recently gained stronger ethnic sensibility in intercultural politics of the belly and affect. As such, the concept is now generalized to associate with any population which has migrated from its country of origin and settled in a foreign land. In addition, the settled groups maintain continuity as a community with their homeland, which they call their natal heritage. Diaspora is therefore a term applied to a minority ethnic group of migrant origin which maintains not only sentiments but equally material links with its land of origin.

In 1996, John Hutchinson and Anthony Smith wrote in their book Ethnicity that a ‘diaspora’ excludes groups, having settled, severed their relationship with their root society. It also excludes a group whose minority results from conquest, annexation or arbitrary boundary adjustment. The point is - taking up ‘life in diaspora’ is advocated by circumstance and by rationalization of related issues for security and better life away from home. People mostly move to seek better opportunities for existence, reunion, safety, education and advancement. Those, according to Hutchinson and Smith, who break off connections with their homeland will not qualify to be referred as people in diaspora. You need to maintain constant and strong linkage with your homeland to claim the benefits and challenges of being in diaspora.

What can one really learn when one moves? Surely, life is challenged with a ground-breaking culturation whereby to survive is to change and adapt to what is there in place – in a new society. A wife of a corporate investor who arrived in Nigeria in 1996 to establish oil wells once reported in Fortune Magazine that – ‘upon migration, all of a sudden, one becomes stupid’? This suggests that everything one knows as normal routines of life changes because they are no longer appropriate in the new place. One has to learn things anew as a baby does and only by so doing does one start a reasonable life in another culture. Life in diaspora is culturally burdensome – where one’s carried along way of life will no longer be at ease (thanks to Chinua Achebe’s second landmark title of novel). It is a culture re-learned – with a high potential for evolving intercultural skills and sensibilities that may be useful back-home. It can, and does, make development occur in new forms. Elsewhere (see www.nigeriaworld.com Jan. 2003), I have argued the uses of intercultural competencies diasporists gain in their everyday lives in their places of work, home and social arenas as cultural capital. It showed diasporists could relay their cultural assets home and help turn specific developments around. It also highlighted the fact that going abroad is a fundamental human right and one in diaspora is not misplaced in diversity. An Igbo saying that a traveller has more knowledge than the grey-hair at home (onye ije ka onye isi awo ihe ama) is advisory. The Igbo are saying diasporization is good (cf. njepu amaka – Nwolisa 2000). A diasporist carries a multiple of cultures and therefore is one with plural knowledge, identity and social status. Like history, diaspora is a life pattern which emerges and is challenged - and in turn is challenging to those with whom one is concerned for in everyday lives.

Significantly, one can bicker that diaspora is an important face of life history starting from what one likes to tell about one’s experiences in diaspora. A diasporist precisely tells the story of life from the side that burdens or dramatizes issues on him/her. Involved in the live of diversity, a diasporist thrives from familiar to new challenges. Max Dimont contends that diasporists, like history, go through the spring of their arrival or origin and survival, mature into the summer of their achievements and contributions, grow into the autumn of intellectual rationalities, and decline into the winter cycle of civilization and of dying. Diaspora is therefore cyclic because each diasporist has his or her own beginning, middle and end. Life in diaspora is filled with hard experiences of how to survive, in view of desired change and continuity.

Coming to live in Canada or USA, for example, is fantasized as going to bliss or heaven but the reality is there are cultural value conflicts and compromises to be made. Life begins with survival jobs of even the least desirable activity to pay bills and to stay out of trouble with the law. This is followed by loneliness and problematic icy-weather. Overwhelming family role reversals, new working and living habits, female and child power are other strong experiences that the African men and women learn to cope with in a hard way. Perseverance and co-operation in community in many awesome ways go a long way to strengthening the abilities to cope with limited life choices in the diaspora.

TO BE CONTINUED.