Thursday, January 16, 2020

Week 3 - Douglas Tran ASA 114

Douglas Tran
ASA 114


Almost everyone I know has some kind of experience with migration. Whether it be their parents who immigrated to the US or their grandparents or even them.  In Nina Schiller’s, “Lived Simultaneity and Discourses of Diasporic Difference,” Schiller talks about how discussions about migration solely in terms of identities, values, norms, or cultural repertories cannot capture the processes of social connection. The part of the chapter that connected with me most was when Schiller discusses how invoking a shared past bridges the chasms of time, space, and generation. Despite living a daily experience that usually divides two populations. This reminded me of my household. Both of my parents immigrated here and they still talk about stories that happened when they were kids in Vietnam. These stories are what keeps my parents connected and is what connected me back to Vietnam. Another part of the reading that reminded me of my family was when she mentions how people assumed that immigrants were uprooted and disconnected from their homeland and home ties. This reminds me of my uncle, who wants nothing to do with Vietnam because of political reasons. This disconnect still acts as his connection back to Vietnam and it is important to note that even though he has dismissed Vietnam, he is, in some way, still connected. This whole chapter defined and gave examples of transnationalism, and to be honest, I’m still a little confused on the specific definition. How does transnationalism differ from a diaspora? Is a diaspora a group of people who have left their homeland and transnationalism is that group building connects back to their homeland? 



This image kind of demonstrates how we all create transnational ties through the use of technology and social media. 


Sources


Reading
Nina Glick Schiller. “Lived Simultaneity and Discourses of Diasporic Difference.” Displacement. 


Image


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