Diasporic studies emerged in the 1960s to analyze populations dispersed from their homeland. It was originally used to describe the Jewish tradition but now applies more broadly. A diaspora refers to a forced dispersion, while migration is willful. Robin Cohen identified four phases of diaspora studies: from the original Jewish prototype to increasingly challenging and reclaiming the concept to include various refugee and minority groups. Key aspects of a diaspora include collective memory of the homeland, alienation from it, hopes of eventual return, and maintaining a relationship with the homeland, as seen in biblical stories like Joseph, Job, and Daniel.

1. DIASPORIC STUDIES
PRESENTATION BY TONY SAM V

2. ORIGIN AND GROWTH
• Speiro-Greek word
• Scatter or disperse.
• Sophocles, Herodotus, Thucydides in the 5th
century BC
• Modern interpretation-Jewish tradition
• Until 1950s only religious connotation
• Told to assimilate
• In 1960s only, diasporic studies emerge.

3. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIASPORA AND
MIGRATION
• Migration is willing,intentional.
• Diaspora is forced.
• Economic or physical force
• Migration is for job opportunities and other
related things

4. ROBIN COHEN’S FOUR PHASES
• First phase- Jewish prototype
• Second phase-no victimhood
• Third phase-challenging of the broader
concept
• Fourth phase-reclaiming of the concept

5. FIRST PHASE
Prototypical diaspora
Religious meanings
Limited to Jews, Greeks and Armenians
Gradually, African and Irish
Trauma was the reason why they migrated
Victim diasporas
Traumatic exit and centrality

6. BROADENING SCOPE:2ND PHASE
• 1980s to 1990s
• Other reasons:
• Voluntarily leaving
• Not being accepted in the place they settled in
• Political refugees, immigrants, racial minorities.
• But “International journal diaspora: A journal of
transnational studies by Khachig Toloyan” in 1991
made diasporic studies a more of a serious study.

7. WILLIAM SAFRAN-DEFINITION
• Dispersion from a single centre of origin to two or
more foreign peripheries
• Retention of a collective memory of the
homeland
• Yet feeling a degree of alienation from it.
• Hope of eventual return for their descendants.
• Belief that the homeland should be supported.
• Maintenance of a relationship with the
homeland.

8. DIASPORA AND THE HOLY BIBLE
• Story of Joseph in Genesis-diaspora story.
• Joseph is sold as a slave in Egypt and there he
learns how to survive and eventually becomes
second in command to the pharaoh.
• The book of Job is also diasporic.
• The Book of Daniel is diasporic. Daniel is brought
by King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel interestingly
here doesn’t assimilate to the culture, but
cherishes his Hebrew traditions and customs.