The Cult of Mazu in Hainan,China and Among Vietnamese Hainanese Diaspora:A Comparative Study of Mazu Culture

The cult of Mazu is a common folk belief in China and Vietnam.Originating from the Song and Yuan Dynasties,particularly during the Ming and Qing Dynasties,the cult of Mazu spread to Vietnam through maritime trade and migration from coastal regions of China.After centuries of integration and development,it evolved into its own cultural system of Mazu worship,becoming an important component of Vietnamese folk culture.Hainan,China,as a crucial supply station on the Maritime Silk Road,has close connections with the transmission of Mazu culture to Vietnam.This paper adopts field investigations and literature research methods to explore the Mazu worship and culture in Hainan,China,and the Qiongfu Assembly Halls in Vietnam.

International visibility of Armenian domestic journals:the role of scientific diaspora

Purpose:Nearly 122 scientific journals are currently being published in Armenia-of which only six are indexed by WoS and/or Scopus databases.The majority of the national journals are published in the Armenian language,solely possessing abstracts written in English,although there are also English-language and multi-language journals with articles not only in Armenian but also in other foreign languages.The aim of this article is to study the visibility of the(non-indexed)national Armenian journals in the WoS database through citation analysis.In consideration of the existence of a relevant Armenian“diaspora”in the world,this article also attempts to estimate its impact in terms of citation statistics.Design/methodology/approach:For this end,we have identified citations to the national/domestic Armenian journals in the WoS database in comparison with the share of citations received from“diaspora”researchers(researchers of Armenian origin born in foreign countries and those originally from Armenia who have emigrated to foreign countries).Findings:Among the 116 Armenian domestic journals analyzed(not indexed by WoS),only 47 were found to be cited in WoS.Of these journals,almost 12%are citations by“diaspora”researchers,most of which concern Social Science and Humanities journals.Research limitations:Although the surnames of Armenians end with-i(y)an,sometimes,the Diaspora Armenians,surnames are changed or modified or they are not ending with-i(y)an,in this case we may fail to identify them.Practical implications:This study can help to build new,more deep and comprehensive relations with scientific diasporas.Originality/value:This study offers a new understanding of multifaced research collaboration with scientific diasporas and their role in internationalization of domestic journals.

Can first or last name uniqueness help to identify diaspora researchers from any country?

Purpose:Diaspora researchers work in one country but have ancestral origins in another,either through moves during a research career(mobile diaspora researchers)or by starting research in the target country(embedded diaspora researchers).Whilst mobile researchers might be tracked through affiliation changes in bibliometric databases,embedded researchers cannot.This article reports an evidence-based discussion of which countries’diaspora researchers can be partially tracked using first or last names,addressing this limitation.Design/methodology/approach:A frequency analysis of first and last names of authors of all Scopus journal articles 2001-2021 for 200 countries or regions.Findings:There are great variations in the extent to which first or last names are uniquely national,from Monserrat(no unique first names)to Thailand(81%unique last names).Nevertheless,most countries have a subset of first or last names that are relatively unique.For the 50 countries with the most researchers,authors with relatively national names are always more likely to research their name-associated country,suggesting a continued national association.Lists of researchers’first and last name frequencies and proportions are provided for 200 countries/regions.Research limitations:Only one period is tracked(2001-2021)and no attempt was made to validate the ancestral origins of any researcher.Practical implications:Simple name heuristics can be used to identify the international spread of a sample of most countries’diaspora researchers,but some manual checks of individual names are needed to weed out false matches.This can supplement mobile researcher data from bibliometric databases.Originality/value:This is the first attempt to list name associations for the authors of all countries and large regions,and to identify the countries for which diaspora researchers could be tracked by name.

“Diaspora”的汉译问题及流散诗学话语建构

流散文学及相关理论研究已经成为世界文学、文化理论研究的显学。"diaspora"一词的汉译,在汉语传播语境中还没有统一的认识,以"流散、飞散、散居、离散"四种译法的使用居多、影响较大。比较而言,"流散"之译最妥:它继承了"Diaspora"的大写之译"大流散"、"流散社群",也符合希伯莱文、希腊文词源之意,具有历史继承性;"流/散"二字组合巧妙,体现了人类流散文化在历史时间上的延续性、地理文化空间上的延展性,也体现了流散研究学理、学缘上的传承性、逻辑性;在汉语文化传播语境中,"流散"之译使流散诗学理论话语建构获得了灵活性与学术张力。

Reconstructing Dual Loyalties:Interaction between Host States' Perception and Diasporas' Reaction

This article explores the dynamics of the Diaspora's dual loyalties towards their home countries and host countries by using American Jewry as a case study. It argues that in liberal-democratic states,the shift in the Diaspora's loyalty towards the homeland vis-à-vis the host land is a result of the change to the host land's perception of where the acceptable boundary of the Diaspora's practice of dual loyalties is, or in other words, to what extent the Diaspora's support of the homeland is perceived to be acceptable by their host land. The reconstruction of this boundary is determined by four factors: the degree of political coordination between home states and host states, the attempt of the home state to mobilize its diasporas, the means advocated and supported by the Diaspora, and the severity of potential consequences due to the Diaspora's action.

The Chinese Diaspora and Disability/Rehabilitation in the United States

In this article, I will discuss disability issues as a second and a half generation American of Chinese descent who has worked with persons with disabilities, has taught rehabilitation counseling as well as having been a rehabilitation psychologist for more than 35 years in the U.S. and Australia. I am pleased to be able to share some of my thoughts and experiences in this article that is a bit less formal than what you may expect in a professional journal. Though I hope that what I share will provoke some thinking and action from those who read these words.

The Global Circular Diaspora in Mo Yan’s Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out

The 2012 Nobel Prize winner in Literature,Chinese writer Mo Yan,describes the 50 years history of Chinese countryside from 1950 to 2000 in his masterpiece Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out.By the six artistic images of the innocent killing landlord’s reincarnation as a donkey,an ox,a pig,a dog,a monkey,and a big head baby boy,it focuses on the topic of the land.It explains that all the relationships between the peasants and the land,and shows the changes in the life of Chinese peasants and their tenacious,optimistic and tough spirit since the foundation of the New China.By analyzing the unique plot of the six great divisions in the wheel of karma and the hero’s mental journey,it can be found that the theme of the novel is to reveal a global circular diaspora with the moon,rather than the sun as the center of the circle,which is quite different from the real world.

The Global Circular Diaspora With Time as the Center in Modiano’s In the Caféof Lost Youth

The 2014 Nobel Prize winner in literature,Patrick Modiano,in his masterpiece,In the Caféof Lost Youth,describes the story of Louki,a young mysterious lady who has been making time-travelling diaspora in all her life.This thesis makes deep analysis by making use of temporal relationship—the fragmentation of the past,the hopeless pursuit from the present to the future,and the confusion of time,revealing that the essence of life is the intertwining of reality and illusion,the confusion of pain and happiness,the ambiguity of survival and death.Furthermore,it also argues that,the story of the heroine Louki,who,like most other human beings,is living like“drifting duckweed and floating clouds”within the global circular diaspora with time as the center.

Africans and the New Diaspora

This paper examines the life of Africans,using literature to discuss movements from Africa to other parts of the world as Diasporas.Such movements begin with slavery,to political asylum being sought and now self-initiated movements for trade,education,and labour for the facilitation of both information and industrial development.Relevant literatures are reviewed and analysed for their symbolic implications beyond the texts in order to establish the dialectic of facts and fiction.The relevant literatures include:Olaudah Equaino’s(1789)Equaino’s Travels,Joseph Conrad’s(1995)Heart of Darkness and Other Stories,and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s(2008)Trafficked.This paper posits that prior to the 15th century,Africans were free in their natural milieu with either no threat to their lives or being alienated from their ancestral homes until the period of slavery.Sequel to the attainment of independence by most African countries with the hope for self-governance and development,corruption,civil wars,foreign debts,economic depression,famine,and poverty truncate the people’s hope for better living.African citizens therefore seek refuge abroad in countries with viable economy.With globalization,not only education and culture play significant roles,but also modern technology especially information and communication technology(ICT)play key roles in population drift in trade.There lies an absurdity that Africans now flee their once free homeland or countries to foreign lands which are perceived as“heaven on earth”because of their functional systems through effective governance.Thus,this paper concludes that new movements and new Africans in the Diaspora are self-initiated,imposed,and motivated irrespective of their being alienated from home and the risks involved since the end will justify the means.

A Review of Autism Spectrum Disorder among the Somali Diaspora: Implications for Autism Care in Somalia

Despite the dramatic increase in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) globally, no research has been conducted in Somalia regarding ASD. However, research studies from Somali immigrants (diaspora) living in Sweden, the US, the UK, etc., have been major contributors to the subject of ASD among people of Somali descent. In this review, we aimed to examine ASD among the Somali diaspora community in terms of its prevalence, possible causes, knowledge of the diseases among the diaspora community, and the challenges faced in raising ASD-affected children in a foreign country. These findings create a general picture of the magnitude of the burden of ASD diagnosis and management and the coping mechanisms adopted by the Somali diaspora community, which are vital lessons for policymakers, child health non-governmental organizations, and the professional medical bodies aiming to tackle ASD back home in Somalia. The study found that ASD is three to five times more prevalent among children of Somali descent than their peers from other backgrounds and that Somali children were generally diagnosed much later than their peers and often presented with lower intellectual abilities than their peers. Furthermore, Somali immigrants were found to have low levels of knowledge about autism, faced stigma and discrimination and often resorted to religion and a small tight circle of friends and family for social support. They faced a huge challenge of seeking access to healthcare and schools for their autistic children and have a mistrust of social services for fear of the government taking away their children. These findings raise the possibility that neglected ASD cases may be prevalent in Somalia and thus makes recommendations for future research, social policy development, and early intervention services for individuals with autism in Somalia.

国际移民的认同、作用、跨国网络:“全球Diaspora面临的挑战和方向”会议综述

2016年1月20日至21日,由广西民族大学和韩国国立全南大学联合主办的国际研讨会"全球Diaspora面临的挑战和方向"在广西民族大学召开。来自韩国、日本、马来西亚、中国的30多位专家、学者和研究生共聚南宁,围绕Diaspora的离散、认同、跨国活动等问题展开了学术交流。本文从Diaspora的认同、作用、跨国网络、Diaspora社会的变化等四个方面,对会议论文和发言中有代表性的学术观点进行了综述。

“Take Kisses Back to Africa”: Diaspora and Return to African Culture in Harryette Mullen’s Poetry

As one of the African diasporas,Harryette Mullen arranged a spiritual return to her African origin.Through memory tracing of Africa,a connection between the poet and Africa has been established.Mullen presents ways of spiritual return for contemporary African diasporas which can be seen as the journey of self-pursuing.Facing the unhealable cracks between diasporas and their origin,Mullen tries to bridge the cracks of African literary development while embraces it by constructing her diasporic identity and obtaining ethnic writer’s authority through it.

The Analysis of Diaspora Women’s Identity in Interpreter of Maladies from the Perspective of Postcolonial Feminism

The famous Indian-American female writer Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies describes the diaspora’s emotional experiences in the heterogeneous space.For three diaspora women in the novel,different characteristics are manifested for their formation of the identities due to their different life experiences:Boori Ma is a“voiceless”other;Mrs.Sen is a brave identity reconstructor;and Twinkle becomes a representative of“hybrid”identity.Compared with the former,the latter’s identity establishment presents a more positive state,conveying Jhumpa Lahiri’s longing for diaspora women to build a positive cultural female identity,and her expectation of constructing a spiritual home of multi-cultural integration.

Depending on a Diaspora

Somalia＇s rebirth relies greatly on the return of its many refugees MOGADISHU is on the mend and on the rise.A booming construction industry is building high-rise blocks that compete for skyline dominance,shops are opening up at a much faster rate than two years earlier and airlines are launching routes to what has hitherto been considered the world＇s most dangerous city. Despite a rise in the number of ambushes,assassinations and suicide bombings in the city in August,a sign that Somali militant group Al-Shabaab has renewed its campaign to bring instability to the nation＇s capital,a sense of optimism still abounds as the country slowly makes its way back into the international arena.The United Kingdom has reopened its embassy after a 22-year closure.

“diaspora”的译法和界定探析

冷战后,"diaspora"一词的使用变得越来越广泛,在文化人类学、文化研究和文学批评等领域中都可以见到其踪影。这也就是罗杰斯.布鲁贝克所说的"‘散居族裔’一词的散居"现象。针对这一现象,笔者认为有必要对该词的汉语译法及其概念的界定予以说明,并将其与相关的类似概念进行区分。

diaspora(离散):概念演变与理论解析

随着全球化进程的不断深入,世界范围内人口、信息、物资、商品的流动日渐频繁,迁徙、寓居以及由此形成的网络逐渐进入人们的日常生活,同时改变着人们对国家、社会和人群的观念与想象。跨越疆界、跨国网络及去地域化与再地域化等现象不断促使人们重新思考自我的身份、归属与认同。多元的"家"与多重认同逐渐被更多的人所接受。因此,diaspora这一原指流散于世界各地,却又心系家园的犹太人的词语,又重新进入人们的视野,因其流动、离散、灵活等特质而成为"四海为家"、"普世情怀"、"世界主义"的代名词,成为国际社会科学领域的焦点议题。本文探讨diaspora的含义,以及由其所形成的概念与理论体系,试从方法论角度理解全球时代的迁徙、流动认同,以及当下人们复杂的主体性建构。