Circulations, Exchanges, Translations

Hospitality, Storytelling and Integration in a Mobile World

This project aims to reflect broadly on questions of social isolation and cultural exchange through the theoretical, philosophical and historical lens of hospitality.  More specifically we focus on the central place within the practice and theory of hospitality of storytelling between 'strangers'.  We explore both the beneficial and also more toxic dimensions of storytelling in the construction, expression and transformation of individual and community identities, drawing insights from our research on the Ancient World and Early Modern Europe for British society today.  We are interested in probing the particular challenges and opportunities presented by contexts where different languages are spoken.

Music, Migration and Social Integration: Perspectives from the North African Diaspora in Europe

How might music move with patterns of migration? What role does music play in the maintenance of transnational identities and the forging of new social relations in the diaspora?

Music acts as a ‘social glue’ that can bring together diverse communities, both through grassroots human interactions and social media platforms. It can function as a form of nostalgia for the homeland and as a way of connecting communities across transnational contexts. Music can also operate as a mode of social integration, where musicians from different cultural backgrounds come into contact forging new cultural forms. In this panel, we will explore what happens when music and musicians migrate to new places of belonging, drawing on case studies from the North African diaspora in Europe. At a time of rising nationalism and anti-immigration rhetoric, we explore music’s role in debates about belonging, multiculturalism and integration.