Defining Diaspora

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Defining Diaspora

Jan 2009

Speakers: Hari Kunzru, Tahmima Anam, Tash Aw, Nadeem Aslam

Three 'displaced' authors talk to Hari Kunzru about the way that their own diasporas have affected their writing. Tash Aw was born to a Chinese family living in Malaysia, but has lived in London for half of his life, Tahmima Anam was born into a nomadic Bangladeshi family, and Nadeem Aslam's family are political refugees living in the north of England, forced to leave Pakistan when Nadeem was in his mid-teens. Hari Kunzru's father was from Kashmir and his mother an English Protestant.

Writing about the various parts of the world that they, or at least their parents, originated from has raised a number of issues, and forced them to question exactly where their cultural origins lie. All of the authors have also encountered hostility to their writing from people in the countries that their parents left, who claim that the authors no longer have a right to write about these places. They are also frustrated at the perception that, for example, Asian writers only influence, or are only influenced by, other Asian writers.

The authors also discuss the English language. Writing in English is another point that underlies the authors' experience of writing about the countries or region they originate from. They discuss the flexibility of English, and how it has become a lingua franca in the countries they write about - in countries where many languages or dialects are spoken by myriad ethnic groups, English can be a politically neutral language. It is also one that is likely to reach to a wider audience.

Finally, the authors discuss their frustration at publishers using the 'ethnic card' - for example by using cliched cultural images on book covers, a practice that is particularly prevalent among European publishers.

This video was kindly provided by The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival