On Material Engagement with Nature: Reviewing the Construction of Diasporic Space

Abstract

With the acceleration of globalization, studies in diaspora have increasingly absorbed geographic ideas. Research on the relationship between nature and humankind has thrown new light on discussions of diaspora. However, there are few in-depth studies addressing the construction of diasporic space in relation to the materiality of the natural world. Considering the relative absence of the natural environment as a serious subject in contemporary diaspora studies, the starting point of this article is to review the implicit understandings of the natural world in diaspora research (Clifford: Diasporas; Brah: Cartographies of diaspora; Gittins: The diggers from China; Ma and Cartier: The Chinese diaspora). This article attempts to explore the connections between diasporic experiences and the living natural environment, as presented in previous theoretical writings (James Clifford, Avtar Brah, Rod Giblett) and case studies (Anna Tsing and Cruse Beryl etc.), most notably those focusing on the relationships between space, place and people.

However, in most of the existing works, diasporic-related concepts of nature, place, and space are abstractions and generalizations. In this article, I suggest that specific embodied and material engagement with the natural environment needs to be factored into notions of diasporic space. Through analyzing the cases of the matsutake mushroom in the United States and the abalone in Australia, this article argues that "diasporic space" is an ecocultural construction comprising cultural spaces and natural places, and related to a range of diasporic social practices and human experiences in different natural environments. Diasporic space is both cultural and natural, both abstract and material.