TeachorTalkbak

In her introductory section of Migrations, author Susan Friedman notes that “migrations, diasporas, and borders are nothing new”–only in terms of literary study can they be called “new” since overt, focused research into their significance dates from the 1970s (p. 260). Continuing the trend of grouping a wide assortment of essays by (loose) affinity according to subject, the ISMLL anthology sandwiches Friedman’s offering between articles on “Race & Ethnicity” (K. Warren) and “Translation” (L. Venuti). All three make direct reference to issues such as increasing global interdependence due to more fluid travel, interaction, and community/residency arrangements; however, Friedman essentially dedicates her study to such fluidity as it affects where and how people actually live. The author defines “cultures” as “ways of being…creating…hating…conquering and being conquered [in the world]” (p. 260), then sets out on a sweeping journey of her own to briefly cover everything from physical relocation–whether voluntary, semi-voluntary, or forced–to the impact of technology (especially the internet and satellite communications), to repercussions arising from factors like racial, geographical, and linguistic differences between regions/countries around the world which now find themselves intermixing (see pp. 261-268). Migrations makes selective–and rather effective–use of historical and anecdotal reporting to buttress its call for more attention to be placed on these complex trends. Friedman does not appear to “adopt” any particular theoretical or strategic stance, for she does not see her role as “combatting” so much as understanding or, better, engaging the realities she speaks about: “The displacements produced by migrations, diasporas and borders create a poetics of their own” (p. 283).

Topos: Relation vs. Isolation. Friedman argues that discrete entities (e.g. geography and language)–and even apparent opposites such as the global and the local–actually work together in a sort of “synergistic” sense, contributing to the interconnectedness of contemporary international culture. The Los Angeles Times used to run an extended advertisement before feature presentations in movie cinemas, showing scenes of African citizens drinking American sodas and Europeans implementing Japanese electronics components into their office machinery. The byline ran: “Everything is local news.” This is indisputable in terms of major financial activity; witness the effect a declining US dollar is having not only on the national  but on the international economy worldwide. It is eminently reasonable to consider concomitant effects, to investigate what travels with the currencies: Widespread migrations, from forced (Jewish exiles; Irish potato famine; Vietnamese refugees) to voluntary, as in the case of countless foreign nationals seeking a better life in the US & Europe, bear out the fact that peoples frequently cross borders so en masse and bring long-standing racial, linguistic, and cultural traditions with them. These traditions influence–and are influenced by–their “host” regions, leading to previously unknown “blended” societies that are no longer the one or the other. Without doubt, then, Friedman is on solid statistical and anecdotal grounds in suggesting that seemingly distinct factors interplay whenever Migrations, Diasporas, & Borders are at issue. Regarding the question of whether moving away from one’s homeland necessarily constitutes a better life, the author’s survey does not definitively state. Is the “American Dream,” for example, a sure improvement over what the typical Latino or Asian emigree is leaving behind? Are they departing the lands of their fathers solely for economic reasons? These are details which call out further research.