Postcolonizing Europe? An International Workshop // May 10-12, 2010

Koen Leurs (utrecht) Mediated crossroads: youthful digital diasporas
In this talk, I focus on the various strategies and tactics taken up by migrant youth to maintain digital diasporas. From a post-colonial standpoint,I tease out how digital diasporas have evolved over time from transnational public spheres to rhizomatic, hypertextual formations. Diasporas are not homogeneous and resist generalization, but I distinguish three common strategies in how they become rejuvenated digitally: (1) the forging of transnational public spheres based on maintaining virtual social relations by people scattered across the globe (2) new forms of diasporic youth branding (3) the cultural production of innovative hypertexts. Before turning to these three strategies, the potential of a post-colonial framework to recognize multiple intersections of diaspora and electronic mediation is elaborated.

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