‘Extended diaspora’: On communitization phenomena in the digital age

Abstract

In our article, we will address the question of the extent to which the phenomenon of the digital diaspora can also be transferred to internet communities. Drawing on Foucault’s concepts of heterotopia and heterochronia, we will not only refer to actual diaspora communities, but especially to those communities that make use of diaspora rhetoric and therefore also have a community-building effect. We deal with attempts to create communities that are, on the one hand, located beyond the ‘classical’ definition of diaspora, but, on the other hand, are designed against the background of the connotations of diaspora (extended diaspora). We will examine such an appropriation of the concept using several examples from the fields of video games and digital video. These pop cultural artefacts make use of the term ‘diaspora’ to create a feeling of community in the realm of the digital but without really cashing in on its original meaning.