| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Situated in Ukraine, post-Soviet Odesa has experienced emigration of its ethnic minorities (Jews, Greeks, Germans), seeing them replaced by Slav newcomers, transnational migrants, traders, and refugees. This migration pattern provides an opportunity to reflect critically on scholarly ideas of 'new diaspora', understood as vibrant cultural mixing. Drawing on Appadurai's notion of 'translocality' and focusing on Soviet generations of Odesans, I argue that some urban residents see themselves as having been transformed into a new diasporic community in their own city. This is due to a particular post-Soviet combination of factors: they have been confronted by demands of the nation-state, their social circle has emigrated, and new engagements have been 'blocked' by a form of tolerance marked by indifference.
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