Diaspora, Mediated Communication and Space: A Transnational Framework to Study Identity

Georgiou, M. (2010). Diaspora, Mediated Communication and Space: A Transnational Framework to Study Identity. M.Christensen, A.Jansson, C.Christensen (Ed.). Online Territories: Globalization, Mediated Practice and Social Space, 205-221New York: Peter Lang.

Abstract: This chapter proposes a spatial approach to identity and mediation as, it is argued, this approach provides a framework for grasping and analysing the complex and changing formation of identity in current times and in an interconnected world. More specifically, it looks at the significance of mobility, immediate and mediated intersections and juxtapositions of difference as necessary elements of the analysis of current formations of identity. The paper proposes a multi-spatial analysis and looks at the spatial matrix of diasporic belonging in developing the discussion. The case of diaspora is chosen as an exemplary case of cultural formation, which is largely dependent on physical and mediated mobility that links places – either in distance or in proximity. The chapter will argue that diaspora captures human mobility and (re-)settlement not as opposites, not as cause and effect, but rather as co-existing elements of a world connected through flows and networks. Diaspora also presents an exceptional case of intense mediation, as communication networks and information exchange develop across various locations and they follow different directions with consequences for identity and community.