March 2 – Migration and Illicity: Qat in Transit
In “Bundles of Choice: Variety and the Creation and manipulation of Kenyan’s Khat’s Values” Carrier observes the value placed on types of miraa. Miraa is transported all over the world. It is priced accordingly in the international market because of its value. The marketing of this product is very complex because it affects the social, cultural, and economic value of the product (Carrier, p. 416). It is legal in Kenya, but is illegal in other countries such as Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. This makes the product even more of a delicacy because it can only be consumed in particular places. This increases the demand for the product.
Carrier takes a minute in his paper to outline what value means. This is critical to understand the relationship between production, consumption, and exchange of any object. Carrier notes that there is ambiguity around an object’s usage, its exchange, and sign values. He mentions that there are several types of values: “aesthetic, commercial, critical, economic, gestural, statuary, strategic, symbolic, tactical and utility” (Carrier, p. 418). But this can make the analysis of any object very difficult. Carrier argues that sources of value cannot be fully understood in a written theory. The material’s qualities also have an impact on the object. In addition, factors such as “trade costs, seasonality, supply and demand, the ability to negotiate, and the risk factors” (Carrier, p. 418) determine the value of the miraa. I agree with Carrier because the value of an object can differ depending on so many different factors. A similar point was made in Appadurai’s article about value. Value can “be highly variable from situation to situation” (Carrier, p. 419).
In Klein’s article “Khat and the creation of tradition in the Somali Diaspora,” he examines the value and status of khat in the United Kingdom. Khat has taken on a new cultural context (Klein, p. 51). It is often believed that Khat has helped maintain a cultural identity outside of the homeland. It is usually seen as a traditional custom despite the laws created against it in several countries; however Klein argues that khat is a false creation of tradition (Klein, p. 58). Klein has generated a very different analysis of diasporic objects. He brings forth the concept of a false memory. He argues that khat is part of a false memory because people do not understand the origins of the object and its consumption pattern (Klein, p. 59). Klein provides ample evidence to show that this consumption did not form until the 1970s. He notes that the historical records reveal that access to the product varied from refugee camps to civil wars. This is very interesting because is sparks a dialogue about the relationship between individuals in a diaspora and a diasporic object. If diasporic objects are exchanged and come to be understood through oral narratives, how does one ensure that the diasporic object reflects the identity of a diasporic community? If it cannot do this, is it still a diasporic object? In addition, there are several campaigns against the use of khat with the Somali community in the UK because of its destructive nature on the body, as well as on the collective community. Do its negative impacts shape the way the diasporic object is perceived and used in a diasporic community?
Questions
1. What is a cultural tradition? Are there boundaries that confine it? How can one tell if an object is part of a tradition?
2. What is the difference between a transnational object, a diasporic object, a cultural object, and a tradition? What factors that can indicate this?
March 9 – Object Diasporas: Museums, Circulation, and Identity Politics
In Catalani’s article “Telling ‘Another’ Story: Western Museums and the Creation of Non-Western Identities,” Catalani argues that an identity can form through collective memories and histories. This is done through the objects within a museum. Catalani defines the terms history and memory. This is great way to start off any paper because she lets the reader know precisely what she wants to look at. She states that both terms coincide with the past. “They can help people engage with their own stories, identity and historical heritage” (Catalani, p. 3). I agree with Catalani because this can be connected to a sense of belonging. Collections in museums can unite dispersed people from all over the world. Catalani makes an interesting point because she highlights the importance of a collective consciousness. The collections do no only reflect an individual. The collections portray collective memories, which is why it is so powerful. It can touch and connect with so many different people. These collections consist of speeches, images, and signs that are displayed in museums (Catalani, p. 4). These objects are ways that people identify with their history and culture.
In “Object Disaporas Resourcing Communities” Basu also looks at the trajectory of material culture. Basu notes how non-western objects in western museums are diasporic. Basu also argues that “objects articulate between and across cultural histories and the cultural zones of others” (Basu, p. 18). It is evident that objects have gone through different flows and power relations over time. This narrates the diasporic nature of object’s cultural history.
Basu sets up his paper to analyze this. He breaks his paper up into different sections to provide more background to the diaspora group that he analyzes. He examines the diaspora’s historical formation and distribution. This is fundamental to nay paper because it provides solid background reading for the reader who does not know much about the specific diaspora. He also conjures up a great thought. He states that “mapping of this diaspora material culture is an ongoing process” (Basu, p. 6). Much truth lies in this because there are still diasporic objects that are yet to be found and identified in museums all over the world. Collections are filled with items that originate elsewhere.
Very similarly, Catalani also recognizes this fault in non-western collections at western museums. They symbolize the colonialism that allowed for these collections to form. Therefore it is important to maintain collaborations between museums and community groups. This allows for communities to form a sense of community. Individuals can define their cultural identity by “reclaiming an intellectual ownership towards the collections in the museum” (Catalani, p. 9). It also creates ties between the local community and the institutionalized museum. Likewise Basu states that these “diasporas of collections of have been the very forced behind the creation and maintenance of new partnerships and collaborations” (Basu, p. 20). The collections bridge the two groups together. They provide new ideas about the collections. This produces networks of exchange.
Questions:
1. Should museums repatriate the collections dispersed all over the world? Should there be compensation?
2. Do museums draw on cultural assumptions of diasporas? How does this shape an exhibition?
March 16- Object Diaporas II: The AGO Maharajah Exhibit
In Thompson’s article, “Slaves to Sculpture” she explores the concept of art. More specifically she examines the portrayal of African art and illustrates that no Africa art exhibit can be neutral (Thompson, p. 38). The art carries different meanings because it can be interpreted in so many different ways. Thompson underscores the problem with African art exhibits: it does not appear to be natural. It seems foreign (Thompson, p. 39). I think this argument can be applied to any form of art, not only African art. Diasporic objects that are displayed as art in any museum are foreign to the setting in which they are in. They are left to reside far away from their homeland. This will always structure the meanings associated with any object in a museum. The meanings that are produced from these objects are controversial because it is always shaped and framed by larger discourses.
In Hilden’s article “Race for Sale” she outlines different problems with the institution of a museum itself. She argues that the practices of museums follow a Universalist tradition despite its efforts to deracialize museum practices (Hilden, p. 12). It takes on a Eurocentric discourse. The other problem that Hilden takes note of is the relationship between diasporic communities and the new approaches taken at museums to deconstruct any obscure practices. She argues that the participation of a diasporic community at a museum (such as the viewing of a diasporic object) is also a form of continuing colonization through its classification of art (Hilden, p. 12). I agree with Hilden because the objects that once were portrayed as primitive artifacts are now portrayed as art based on an aesthetic criterion. But the objects are still defined in European terms. Judgments about what is art and what defines great art are still framed through a Eurocentric lens. A claim continues to be made. An individual that visits the museum is told what art is based on what it displays in its exhibits.
Both articles highlight the importance to examine the agency of a museum. One can ask, “To what extent can museums form relationships between diasporic communities and Diasporic objects?” (Thompson, p. 44). Hence, wow much power does a museum actually have to execute this? This is a great question to ask because it is questioning the very nature of museums and its ability to display culture through art as fact. She is underpinning the concept of a museum and why society has one. Thompson goes on to question can “an institution ever be conceived as a force for change?” (Thompson, p. 39). This is another important question because it challenges the function of museums and its facilitation of representing culture through objects. Museums can bring about change, but only if they abandon Eurocentric discourses that frame the exhibits. Museums tend to replicate the “pattern of post colonial politics” (Thompson, p. 40). Museums often serve the agenda of the museum itself (as an institution), not the people that are represented inside.
Questions:
1. Do objects in museums have their own agency despite the agency of museums to control and frame the meanings and values of its exhibits?
2. How can museums deconstruct Universalist discourses that are deeply embedded in the formation of museums in order to meet the demand and the supply of exhibitions that accurately portray and inform people about different diasporic objects and diasporic identities?
March 23 – Reworked Objects: The Steel Pan
In Dudley’s article “Music from Behind the Bridge: Steelband Aesthetics and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago, he outlines how the Steelpan came out of the prohibition in Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago supplied oil to the US during the war. Oil cans were mass produced and this granted the space to produce the Steelpan. The materiality of this instrument is very interesting. This reveals how objects are always rooted to the land. Diasporic objects have deep connections to when they were made, where they were made, how they were made. Several processes dictate their formation and the trajectory that they take.
Dudley explores how the Steelpan is a symbol. It represents a form of politics that existed in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. It positions people in relation to the pan. There is a set of politics in the music and a politics that is embodied in the instrument. The Steelpan is an active participant that has the agency to speak on behalf of a population and still be rendered a valuable space to intellectually analyze the production of identity. The Steelpan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. It is interesting that an object can be owned by a country. Usually brands or companies are owned by nations, not the actual object (such as a car, or a building, or an appliance). Several countries do not have a national instrument. This is fundamental in diaspora studies because the Steelpan renders that an object takes on a nationalistic identity. Other scholars such as Stephanie Rains, also take on a similar stance. She argues that objects are part of a material culture that has a nationalist function (Rains, p. 52). Likewise the Steelpan functions as a marker of Trinidadian nationalism within the Caribbean and also around the world.
In Walrond’s article, “Steelpan, Caribbean Identity, and Cultural Relevant Adult Programs” she also examines the symbolism of the Steelpan. She sets up her paper with the history of the Steelpan, its function in story telling, its connection to social justice, and its use as a symbol of cultural identity. Walrond does an excellent job of articulating how the Steelpan is used as pedagogy of resistance (Walrond, p. 26). I think her use of pedagogy is critical to the analysis because pedagogy stimulates a discussion over how one comes to explore, interpret, and understand knowledge. In this case it provides awareness about the formation of the Steelpan and how it shaped the social relations within Trinidad and Tobago (Walrond, p. 27). The Steelpan used as a pedagogical tool shifts the way one thinks about teaching. It provides new insight into how objects can be used as instructional aids, which illustrates that multifunctional component of diasporic objects. It also raises awareness about the ways objects can be used to share information. A Steelpan player, when they play the Steelpan, is not only playing notes on an oil canister. It produces a new process of inquiry that we haven’t experienced before. It disrupts traditional patterns of pedagogy, such as narratives of culture and rhetoric about identity.
Question:
1. How are the politics embodied in the Steelpan manifested outside of Trinidad and Tobago? Does a shift in place change or amend the politics centered on this object?
2. Are there other diasporic objects that function as a form of resistance? Is resistance in the homeland or in the host country?
March 30 – Food Stuff: Eating into Identity
In Mannur’s article “Culinary Nostalgia: the Powerful Place food Occupies in our Cultural Imagination” she outlines how food connects people to their homeland. She emphasizes the importance of recreating the tastes of home within the kitchen. She outlines the need to maintain this aspect of one’s heritage. I think her use of the novel, The Namesake provided great insight about the role of food in diasporic communities. The protagonist of the book searches for restaurants that serve foods that she is familiar with. She also searches for shops that would sell the ingredients needed to make her traditional dishes. The protagonist has a yearning for this food. This yearning is not created by physical hunger, but from nostalgia for the homeland.
In Sutton’s article “Whole foods: Revitalization through Everyday Synesthetic Experience” he examines how food is an integral part of the migrant’s experience outside of the homeland. He looks specifically at food that is made within the homeland and is sent to the diasporic community elsewhere. He focuses on the senses to unravel how memories are shaped and formed. Sutton uses the example of traveling smells and tastes to “explain how everyday experiences evoke memories on which identities are formed” (Sutton, p. 121). The tastes and smells of the homeland are not left behind when people move. It is carried with them. These two senses tie into Sutton’s concept of wholeness. Outside of the homeland there is a “lack of fit” (Sutton, p. 122), and a need to maintain a whole that is created by the union of several sensory domains. Certain foods are considered whole because they refresh and revive memories of the homeland and reproduce the diasporic identity.
I think Sutton makes an essential argument. Food provides an idea of memory and an idea of home. Food is always attached to the land (Sutton, p. 123). It is where ingredients are grown, it is where ingredients are cultivated, and it is where these ingredients are manufactured into the products that are used to make food. Certain foods are part of a distinct cuisine in a culture (Sutton, p. 123). Hence food reproduces a diasporic identity. Food that travels from its place of origin provides a space to connect with the homeland because food has a sense of familiarity. Its quality, its ingredients, and its production are all reminders of the homeland.
Both articles highlight that food is a function of social relations. It brings people together because social functions gather around food. Food is at the heart of cultural events and festivities. Food has the function of connecting people within a diasporic community. Hence everybody shares a common understanding of the object. If diasporic groups come from the same point of origin, and are displaced, the meaning attached to the food does not vanish. Everyone will still understanding the meanings attached to the food and how to act in relation to the object. This is because food is a component of one’s identity.
Question:
1. Sutton argues that a returning to the whole requires a mutual tuning in based on shared sensory experiences that are explicitly synesthetic. Is this always the case?
2. What do first hand accounts, such as narratives like The Namesake, provide for diasporic studies, which secondary sources cannot?
