Abstract
Parmar explores the contemporary digital turn in cultural studies, via first an investigation of the cluster of 2017 UK events marking the 70th anniversary of Indian independence, alongside, second, scrutiny of the digital social network Facebook and its highly popular ‘RecommendAsian’ group, on which forms of online identity are articulated. Parmar demonstrates how the 2017 UK anniversary programme was deployed as a dual tool to reinforce notions of Indian national identity, as well as expand that remit around a conceptualisation of ‘diversity’. Conspicuously projected into the British public imagination, she problematises this construction of an imagined Indian national identity. Parmar then scrutinises the interface between the British diaspora, through ‘RecommendAsian’, and these narratives of Indian national identity, returning ultimately to an exploration of diasporic identity. She explores online participation as a form of autobiography, where there is a sustained construction of subjectivity, which concurrently shapes the collective performance of ‘Asianness’.
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Notes
- 1.
‘Millennials’ are defined in the publication as those born between the 1980s and 2000s.
- 2.
- 3.
I draw upon the textual descriptions of the programme in this chapter, as forms of evidence; however, a reading of the glossy images that appear in the PDF brochure would also make for an interesting study. The photographs selected for the brochure narrate a story of cultural and political diplomacy between the UK and India. The title image, on the initial PDF page, depicts a synthesised image where the iconography of the Red Fort is overlaid with that of Buckingham Palace. The Red Fort, a historic architectural landmark in Delhi, looms above Buckingham Palace, which is covered in the silhouettes of Indian performers, instruments and a peacock. The forging of these uneven international cultural and political linkages through visual cues is later reinforced by several images of the Queen, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Indian High Commissioner during launch events for the Programme. After this, images are largely of performers, always colourful, dramatic and eye-catching, which again relate a narrative of soft political power and diplomacy attained through cultural exchange.
- 4.
As I foreground in Chap. 3, the term ‘paratext’ was originally proliferated by Gérard Genette (1997).
- 5.
More recently, Thobani (2017) investigates the transnational linkages of Indian classical dance.
- 6.
- 7.
Basu’s Violent conjunctures in democratic India investigates the historical violence in India associated with right-wing Hindu ideology. Her study uncovers the complexities of ‘reciprocal influences among parties, states, and social movements’ (11). It is clear that whilst instances of communal violence in India are inadvertently state sponsored, this endorsement is complex. There are a number of influences, and each expression of aggression has its own unique factors. Basu underlines the surprising variations between four major Indian cities, caste influences, as well as the relationship of the BJP with organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
- 8.
As well as support, Modi’s visit elicited protests in the UK from a wide range of communities. Protestors also gathered outside the Wembley Stadium event, remonstrating against human rights violations.
- 9.
Some posts were discounted as irrelevant, for example, the search term ‘partition’ returned a recommendation request for traders who could ‘partition’ a wall in their home. There were further instances of ‘rogue’ results with the search term ‘independence’.
- 10.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RecAsian/permalink/2071233693134788/. Accessed 10 May 2018.
- 11.
When referring to posts on RA I intentionally omit any biographical information, to ensure anonymity. I do refer to the Founder of the group by name, having received consent to do so.
- 12.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RecAsian/permalink/2015364835388341/. Accessed 10 May 2018. During 2017 I was a researcher on the project ‘At the heart of the nation: India in Britain’, which aimed to showcase Indian contributions to Britain via an outdoor touring exhibition, as well as a digital timeline (https://whatwedid.co.uk/timeline/IndiaInBritain). As a user of the RA site, I posted the exhibition tour recommendation, as something that might appeal to the members.
- 13.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RecAsian/permalink/2002883163303175/. Accessed 10 May 2018.
- 14.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RecAsian/permalink/1989620041296154/. Accessed 10 May 2018.
- 15.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RecAsian/permalink/1989727474618744/. Accessed 10 May 2018.
- 16.
‘Affordance’ and ‘coaxing’ mechanisms are discussed in a number of chapters, including the Introduction, in Identity technologies: Constructing the self online (Poletti and Rak 2014): one of the four sections is entitled ‘Identity Affordances’. In the volume, ‘affordance’ is described as ‘the set of possibilities for action an environment presents to its users’ (Morrison 2014, 117).
- 17.
A monthly active user is defined as someone who logs on during a 30-day period.
- 18.
Desai, 11 April 2018, telephone conversation. I would like to acknowledge and thank Desai for discussing RA, alongside offering valuable contextual and statistical information about the group.
- 19.
Arguably there is an analytical blind spot here, given the chapter converges on diasporic identity amongst women alone. However, analysis is led by the primary material: RA is immensely popular, has staggering engagement and is concerned with diverse recommendations, unlike the non-gender-specific ‘ProfessionalAsian’. Indeed, as I have highlighted earlier in the book, women tend to be disseminators of culture; therefore, it is not that surprising that I converge here on cultural identity manifested online on a female-only space.
- 20.
I specifically offer explications around a Facebook group. For research on profile pages, community pages, as well as the general use of Facebook, see: Cover (2014), Morrison (2014) as well as Parmar (2014). These resources offer information on the genesis of Facebook, how it works, as well as specific analysis of other functions on the social network.
- 21.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RecAsian/announcements/. Accessed 8th May 2018.
- 22.
Desi is a Sanskrit-derived term that refers to people, practices and products from the subcontinent.
- 23.
Early Internet identity research sometimes oscillates around the theme of how anonymity is generated and used online. See Kennedy (2014). In this example of RA, on the contrary, members readily identify as ‘Asian’, whilst also revealing intimate details. This identification is visible alongside the biographical information that Facebook requires, making members’ identity plainly available.
- 24.
Digital diaspora: A race for cyberspace (Everett 2009) carries a similar title to Brinkerhoff’s monograph; however, Everett’s analysis focuses on African American diasporas, who are generally settled migrated. The interests of the book centre on ‘early instances of African diasporic engagements with cyberspace’ (1)—interactions in chat rooms, list serves, electronic directories—rather than with digital social networks.
- 25.
Facebook has been identified as offering further utility to its users. For example, Sidone Smith and Julia Watson ask whether ‘the self-author use[s] the site therapeutically for engaging, overcoming, and healing from painful memories?’ (2014, 85). This exploration of the therapeutic or confessional characteristics of social media overlaps with the autobiographical nature of the platform; however, it is beyond the scope of this chapter.
- 26.
At the time of researching and writing this epilogue, in early 2018, Facebook was under great public scrutiny for its role in harvesting and commercialising user data, in conjunction with its relationship with Cambridge Analytica. Thus far this has not detrimentally impacted upon the success of the enterprise, with membership and engagement remaining high. However, it seems to me even if the platform does suffer adversely from recent events, it will be replaced by other forms of digital social media. The vast diversity in the offering of digital social networks testify to their popularity, and too imply that if we see the demise of one, indeed others will flourish or take its place. The field will therefore remain open.
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Parmar, M. (2019). Epilogue. In: Reading Cultural Representations of the Double Diaspora. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18083-6_6
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