Within the book, Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas, the chapter written by Nina Glick Schiller, titled, “Lived Simultaneity and Discourses of Diasporic Difference” talks about some of the discourse revolving around what is the best possible term to use to describe the transnational communities. One of the more personally interesting points was when Schiller stated, “Lao young women in Rhode Island are drawn into debates about whether they are Lao or Laotian and whether either shared nation signifier can be transmuted into a hyphenated Laotian-American identity” (Anderson & Lee, 2005).
On a personal account, Filipinos go through something similar to this all the time. Although there isn’t necessarily a distinction between Filipinos similar to Lao or Laotian, a lot of Filipino identified folks in America identify as Filipino or Filipino-American, but in the homeland they tend to be looked at as Americans, regardless of the familial or cultural ties or even involvement in the Philippines economy by way of remittances. And despite more of a connectedness due to globalization, ironically it has brought the homeland and diaspora communities further apart due to how Americans are viewed within the communities in the Philippines.
Discussion: Is it possible to fully maintain a “hybrid” identity celebrating both homeland and settlement identities without prioritizing one over the other?
Photo Source: https://www.teepublic.com/sticker/5774956-made-in-america-with-filipino-parts-proud-fil-am-f
Sources:
Schiller, Nina G. “Lived Simultaneity and Discourse of Diasporic Difference.” Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas, by Wanni W. Anderson, Apple Books ed., Rutgers Univ. Press, 2010, pp. 138–146.
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