Open Air-Sound Lecture

The diaspora strikes back - The Transcultural Capital of Migration (Caribbean-USA-Turkey/Kurdistan-Germany)

Juan Flores (New York University/Puerto Rico) in a conversation with Bilgin Ayata (Berlin/Baltimore) and Afro-Latin Music Hybrids: DJ Basso Profundo (Tropeninstitut/Byte.fm)

Sun, Jul 12, 2009
12 noon

English with German translation

"Cultural Remittances" is what Juan Flores calls the cultural exchange between Puerto Rico and the U.S. – a term that’s analogous to “cash remittance,” the money emigrants transfer to their families back home. The Nuyoricans have radically changed the music and pop culture on the Caribbean island. In his new book, "The Diaspora Strikes Back" subtitled "Caribeño Tales of Learning and Turning", Flores shows the influence of emigrants on their country of origin. What applies to Puerto Ricans in New York can also be applied to émigrés cultures elsewhere.


Juan Flores is Professor of Cultural and Latino Studies at New York University, his books include "From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity "(2000).

Bilgin Ayata is a political scientist and doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA). Her research focuses on the Kurdish diaspora in Europe.

Basso Profundo aka Christoph Twickel presents music between the Caribbean and the rest of the world in his program “Überweisungen” for the NDR and on www.byte.fm .

Moderation: Susanne Stemmler, Haus der Kulturen der Welt