Within sociology, the term 'transnationalism' has, since the mid-1990s,
been used to denote social processes involved in the movement of migrant
populations from one nation-state to another, processes that call into question
the geographical delineation of national boundaries.4 In 1993, Paul
Gilroy noted how attention to 'transnational structures of circulation and
intercultural exchange' brought about by diasporic history could help
diminish the 'tragic popularity of ideas about the integrity and purity of
cultures.'5 Seven years later, Amritjit Singh and Peter Schmidt announced
the arrival of a 'transnational moment' in literary scholarship, where the
analytical frameworks of postcolonial and ethnic studies are being productively
confronted with one another. The revelation of shared histories,
they insist, calls for new comparative studies of diasporic identities across
national boundaries