Diaspora Humanities Series, Vol. 1
This book brings together thematically organized research by scholars from various disciplines who critically reflect on the problems accompanying mobile lives in an era of globalization and deterritorialization, and who seek to reimagine the world as a place of human life. It offers a valuable opportunity to assess both domestic and international trends and transformations in diaspora studies, while also envisioning the field’s theoretical potential.
The book comprises eleven chapters divided into three parts. The contributors critically review existing discussions of diaspora in order to excavate the concept’s theoretical possibilities. At the same time, they employ diaspora as an analytical lens through which to explore the fluidity of life and questions of locality, thereby testing and demonstrating its theoretical significance.
Part I, “The Theoretical Potential of the Concept of Diaspora,” examines ways of renewing the concept of diaspora and explores its diverse analytical applications. Part II, “Diasporic Lives and Places,” focuses primarily on diasporas in East Asia, offering historical reflections on the mobility of life and the formation of locality. Part III, “Representing Diaspora, Diaspora as Representation,” addresses artistic imaginations that seek to represent diaspora, as well as diasporic imaginaries that represent the lives of migrants.