By Shaleen Singh
Diaspora Literature involves an idea of a homeland, a place from where the displacement occurs and narratives of harsh journeys undertaken on account of economic compulsions. Basically Diaspora is a minority community living in exile. The Oxford English Dictionary 1989 Edition (second) traces the etymology of the word 'Diaspora' back to its Greek root and to its appearance in the Old Testament (Deut: 28:25) as such it references. God's intentions for the people of Israel to be dispersed across the world. The Oxford English Dictionary here commences with the Judic History, mentioning only two types of dispersal: The "Jews living dispersed among the gentiles after the captivity" and The Jewish Christians residing outside the Palestine. The dispersal (initially) signifies the location of a fluid human autonomous space involving a complex set of negotiation and exchange between the nostalgia and desire for the Homeland and the making of a new home, adapting to the power, relationships between the minority and majority, being spokes persons for minority rights and their people back home and significantly transacting the Contact Zone - a space changed with the possibility of multiple challenges.
People migrating to another country in exile home
Living peacefully immaterially but losing home
Birth of Diaspora Literature
However, the 1993 Edition of Shorter Oxford's definition of Diaspora can be found. While still insisting on capitalization of the first letter, 'Diaspora' now also refers to 'anybody of people living outside their traditional homeland.
In the tradition of indo-Christian the fall of Satan from the heaven and humankind's separation from the Garden of Eden, metaphorically the separation from God constitute diasporic situations. Etymologically, 'Diaspora' with its connotative political weight is drawn from Greek meaning to disperse and signifies a voluntary or forcible movement of the people from
References: 1.(Cohen Robin, Global Diasporas- An Introduction. London: UC L Press, 1997) 2.Rushdie: Picador, Rupa, 1983 5.(Rushdie: Shame Picader, Rupa, 1983, p.283). 6.(An Area of Darkness London: Andse Dentseh, 1964,p 11.(Mehta, Suketu, Maximum City Viking, Penguin, 2004, p. 13) 12.(Amitava Ghosh, The Ghost of Mrs 13.(Bhabha, Homi, The Location of Culture, Lodon, 1994,) 14.(Ghosh, Amitav,The Hungry Tide Delhi:Ravi Dayal Pub.2004)