In this week’s reading, Regina Lee discusses the three different types of consciousness in correlation to the diaspora. She introduces the three types as idealization of the homeland, boutique multicultural manifestation, and transitional/transformational identity politics.
Firstly, Lee describes the idealization of the homeland as one of the strongest motivators of diasporic communities. It thought this was true and interesting because, on the first day of class, we learned that diaspora means “connection to the homeland,” it even became a running joke in our class. Also, everything we learn always has something to do with the home country of the diasporic community. For example, we learned how people can send remittances back to their home country or how people have transnational identities across nation-state borders. Everything we learned in this class had something to do with the homeland and that is what proves that the home country is a large driving force within diasporic communities.
Secondly, Lee discusses the concept of boutique multicultural manifestation. I thought that an interesting part from this portion of the reading was Lee was discussing how Asians self-consciously reenact what the dominant community expects from them. This idea of manipulating your ethnic visibility reminds me of assimilation to an extent. Also, this ties in with how diasporic communities create hybrid cultures and it further proves that every hybrid culture is at least a little bit different.
Lastly, Lee explains how our multicultural identities are highly politicized. I never really thought about it, but she mentions the power of the “hyphen” in our identities and how it is rooted in our history and in the present.
After this reading, it helped me understand how intricate diasporic communities can be. From our transnational identities to creating hybrid cultures, we as a community really do form a whole new kind of citizen. My only question for this week is, how can you define the creation of a hybrid culture when everyone has different experiences with their multiple identities.
Works Mentioned
Regina Lee. "Theorizing Diaspora: Three Types of Consciousness"
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