From Diaspora to Multi-Locality: Writing British-Asian Cities

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From Diaspora to Multi-Locality Writing
British-Asian Cities

• Drs Seán McLoughlin, William Gould,
• Ananya Kabir, Emma Tomalin
• University of Leeds
• www.leeds.ac.uk/writingbritishasiancities

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Overview

• 1) From Diaspora to Multi-Local Spaces?
• 2) The Network
• 3) Methodological Reflections
• 4) Poetics Politics of Writing Culture
• 5) Cities Dynamics

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1) From Diaspora to Multi-Local Spaces?

• Study of locality place in UK key aspects of
  South Asian migration since 1960s. Distinctive
  disciplinary traditions. Frame of nation-state.
• New work on diasporic cultural production (Sharma
  et al, 1996). Post-colonial critique. Black
  Atlantic to Transl-Asia (Kaur Kalra, 1996).
• Translation creates new glocal vernacular spaces.
  BrAsian landscapes? Sayyid, 2006 - not yet its
  own name. Transformed by conjoining?
• But none yet sought to reflect on the rooted
  dynamics of multiple BrAsian or TranslAsian
  locations (limits of vocabularies)
• specific localities regions people have
  migrated to / from
• new circuits imaginaries beyond multi-local
  nodes of diaspora.

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2) The Network

• To explore the divergent local, multi-local and
  trans-local dynamics of five British-Asian
  cities
• To examine changing representations of cities
  (public) identities, 1960s - 2000s
• To consider how written by different genres e.g.
  ethnography local/oral history
  literary/cultural production media official
  reports.
• To reflect upon (multi)disciplinary perspectives.
  
• To consider differently located/empowered
  insiders/ outsiders, scholars/civil
  society/cultural /community
• Steering committee including non-academics city
  events in community centres restaurants
  symposium web book.

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3) Methodological Reflections

• Not new research but reflexive critiques of what
  already written, the discourses of representation
  through which power diffused contested
• Which cities / regions did we pick why? Major
  conurbations of settlement. Usual suspects?
  Hegemony of Englishness.
• Dominance of ethnic religious groups in certain
  cities / parts of cities. What of minorities
  within minorities?
• Structure of public events also created closures
  e.g. around gender.
• Focus on English language rather than
  vernaculars. Marked insiders outsiders. And
  different public spheres, e.g. national,
  diasporic, etc.
• Need to probe relationship between
  self-positionings perceptions of
  authors/artists. Authenticity? Resist or
  reinforce dominant discourses?

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4) Poetics Politics of Writing Culture

• Changing dominant discourses about a city /
  region. Workshops of the world to global cities?
  Regeneration, riots, tourism cohesion.
• Political economy of publication, production,
  distribution? Markets? Audiences? North-South
  divide.
• Gaze, stereotype mainstreaming in literature,
  film. Consuming the exotic pushing for
  integration. Asian cool v war on terror?
• Who writes? Uneven. Class, gender, etc. Also,
  what is written not written - sexual politics,
  transgressions, etc.
• Beyond texts? Empowering representations of
  identity in diverse cultural productions
  performances e.g. music, dance, art, etc.

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5) Cities Dynamics Writing

• Configuring City Dynamics?
• Response to challenges of post-industrial
  restructuring
• Size location of city, relations to other
  cities
• Predominance, concentration of ethnic / religious
  groups
• Cultural capital

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5) The Cities Dynamics Writing

• Bradford Mumtaz Restaurant
• Northern wool town. Conservatism radicalism.
  Mirpuris, Manningham, mobilisation. Bradford 12,
  Honeyford, Rushdie.
• Tower Hamlets Kobi Nazrul Centre
• Eastenders in global Olympic city. Sylheti seamen
  Brick Lane. Baul singers East London mosque.
  GLC after.
• Greater Manchester Indus Restaurant
• North-South split Pakistanis in cotton the rag
  trade from riots in Oldham to mixing it up on
  Curry Mile.
• Leicester Peepul Centre
• Model of cohesion? Majority minority city.
  Gujeratis East African Twice Migrants. Imperial
  Typewriters. Diwali Golden Mile
• Birmingham Nishkam Centre
• The second city. Bhangra Balti. Handsworth
  Sparkbrook, Punjabi Sikhs Muslims. Indian
  Workers Association.