Exilim

When I first saw the word 'Exilim', I thought it was some sort of Hebraic plural for 'Exile'. The words 'exile' and 'diaspora' have occupied my mind a lot these days. It's an interesting idea, the thought of a small minority without a homeland, immigrating to a new place and planting themselves there.

The reason I've been thinking about this so much is that not so long ago, my immediate male ancestor and my male sibling both decided to ask me a bunch of questions about a paper I was writing that had to do with diasporites, the children of a diaspora — or 'exilim', if you choose to think of it that way.

The question that I found greatest difficulty with was this: Do diasporites all form the same sort of community when they land in a new place and put down roots? Put another way, are there specific genetic or cultural traits that make diasporites different in the way they set up educational and business communities? Or is each such community unique in its effects? I say 'effects', because it is self-evident that the cultural trappings and practices are going to be different, but it is not so clear that the sociological traits (diasporites are hard-working, industrious, conscientious, academically-inclined etc) are significantly unalike.

I have until Thursday night. Friday I present the paper, at the Atlantean Bibliotheque.