Summary

In this workshop, we explored the potential of oral history in order to consider “Islamic connectivities” based on the narrated experiences of migrants. Initially, I made a presentation that showed the history of Tatar migration from the Volga-Ural region of Russia, through East Asia, to Turkey and the US. In addition, I also presented the linkage between positionality and connectivities based on the narratives by East Asian-born Tatar migrants. Firstly, I argued that we must locate the narrator’s positionality within the different dimensions of social relations: individuals, migrant communities, host societies and nation-states. Secondly, we must take a critical view of the researcher’s own positionality. By doing so, we could visualise the vertical relations that affect individuals as they try to make horizontal relations, i.e. the power relations surrounding their connectivities.

      Furthermore, Norihiro Naganawa, the commentator, gave wide-ranged comments which included the analysis of narratives and written materials, the use of identity as an analytical term, and the relationship between nations and migrants. We also received some questions from the floor, such as, an enquiry about the transmission of language and culture to the younger generation. Finally, in response to my question as to what is the interpretation of Islamic connectivities, Hidemitsu Kuroki, the moderator, pointed out that Islamic connectivities would not directly be deduced from Islamness itself, but rather constructed on a huge variety of examples inductively and synthetically. (Sayoko Numata, uploaded on Jan. 24, 2022)