ABSTRACT
In this chapter we examine the idea of a diaspora. This has three dimensions: temporal, spatial and epistemic. The first of these is time and the topology of the time line, since if we subscribe to the notion that time is a property of an object in the world or an object-relation in the world, then the shape that the topological line assumes is dependent on the nature of these objects and object-relations – in our case here, a diaspora and a diaspora(ing). Space defines the frame of social relations and thus of forms of identity, and this includes their role, ethic, diaspora, intelligence and many more object-relations. The third dimension is epistemic. Communication modalities are central to the relationship between knowledge and the world. Representationalist theories of mind identify an inner realm of representations and an outer realm of objects in the world, which are placed in some form of identity relation. These modalities are constituted through numbers, words, sounds, images, gestures and symbols. In other words, we communicate through – by using – numeric, linguistic, musical, pictorial, gestural and symbolic forms of representation, or combinations of them, where the representation refers to the mind–world relation. This relation has a learning element. The point is that these modes or modalities are different in their make-up and in their effects; and, in addition, that new and dynamic events over time, such as the Indian diaspora, fundamentally change the nature and type of representation that can be made.
