What is the meaning of “Diaspora” in the times of globalization? The controversial relationship between Empire, Lusophony and “portugalidade”

Abstract

What is the meaning of Diaspora today? Has the notion of dispersion associated with the origin of the concept, a meaning in the times of globalization? Is there only one or several Diasporas? With this article we intend to observe the evolution of the concept of Diaspora based in the idea of Said (1994) who argues that the end of colonialism did not stop imperialism. We connected the problematizations made on the Diaspora, among others, by Cohen (1997), Hall (1998), Bhabha (1998), Riggs (2000) and Morier-Genoud & Cahen (2013), to the Portuguese case and the idea of Lusophony. Is interculturality, which promotes identity interpenetration, reflected in Diaspora? What happens when combining Diaspora with “portugalidade”? Eduardo Lourenço (1999) is ironic about the idea of Diaspora, claiming that that is an abnormality that our long emigrant history will be perceived as such. And, even if one starts from the idea that “meaning is use” (Wittgenstein, 1958), the ‘naturalization’ of certain realities, ideologically aligned can increase misunderstandings and prevent an ethical dimension, which happens when the ‘other’ comes into play (Eco, 1997).