Objectives
1. An understanding of
how readers in Central Scotland make sense of
diasporic writing
Despite the current UK interest in diasporic
texts (e.g. Small Island) and authors (e.g.
Zadie Smith), little is yet known about the
actual readers of migrant literature and of
how they make sense of the texts they read.
Still less is known about the consumption and
production of meaning in relation to these texts
beyond the metropolitan centre. One of our primary
objectives within this context is a detailed
analysis of the reception of diasporic cultural
production in Central Scotland. By recording
a network of 5 reading groups in this region,
empirical access to the ‘live’ reception
of diasporic texts will be made available for
the first time.
2. A comparative analysis of reception at transnational
levels
Viewed in isolation the Scottish reception data
tells us little about diasporic
cultural production as a global, or transnational
event. Our aim is to develop the case study
of readers in Central Scotland to produce a
comparative reading of diasporic reception by
extending the network to incorporate a further
5 groups in Canada, India, North Africa, and
the Caribbean. Reading groups within these dispersed
locations will be recorded discussing the same
texts as their Scottish counterparts, allowing
us to identify and assess similarities and differences
between reading values, priorities and interpretations.
All reading groups will be networked via an
online chat room, allowing individual readers
to extend their discussion of the texts within
a larger virtual 'community'.
3. The ‘devolution’ of a diasporic
literary canon
Our proposal is motivated by the fact that contemporary
studies of diaspora in the arts and humanities
are founded upon a largely unexplored discrepancy.
Despite revelations in cultural and postcolonial
studies since the 1980s concerning the nomadic,
itinerant nature of migrant identity, there
remains the sense of a genuine place (London,
Bombay, New York) of diasporic activity. Diasporic
cultural production and criticism within the
UK is unequivocally London- centred. Since the
1980s canonical and proto-canonical works by
Hanif Kureishi, Andrea Levy, Salman Rushdie
and Monica Ali have helped make the link between
the migrant and the metropolis axiomatic. The
aim of this project is not to question the significance
of the capital for diasporic writing, or to
propose a separate canon organized around some
kind of literary ‘north-south divide’.
Rather, our objective is to promote the presence
of a ‘devolved’ diasporic culture
within the UK, showcasing the work of writers
in Central Scotland. We will do this through
the production of an anthology of ‘devolving’
diasporic literature in Scotland, the North
of England and the Midlands (Bloodaxe), a database
(see below), and a programme of arts events
in Central Scotland, including a writing a competition
and a stage adaptation of Jackie Kay's The Adoption
Papers.
4. The assistance of public institutions in
Central Scotland in showcasing the cultural
contribution of diasporic communities
The project will work in close collaboration
with local lending libraries and the Macrobert
Theatre (http://www.macrobert.org/) in order
highlight the cultural contribution of Central
Scotland’s South Asian, African and Caribbean
communities. Our close engagement with reading
groups and audiences at these public institutions
will allow sustained involvement with a wide
cross section of local stakeholders, from the
‘host’ as well as the ‘migrant’
community. We will also produce a searchable
database including bibliographical details of
diasporic writing and performances in Central
Scotland, 1980-present. In 2004-5 the Lottery
funded £334,244 arts initiatives in Scotland
dealing with 'cultural diversity', we want to
ensure such present and past projects are documented
so that the extent of 'diasporic' cultural production
in Scotland can be appreciated.
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