Impact of Living in the Diaspora: The Common Ground of the Three Text

Studying Diaspora is essential because many people are dispersed from their homes
to separate geographical locations in the current world. There are numerous politicized,
economic and cultural factors that cause dispersion, and life in the Diaspora has nostalgic
effects. Diaspora has that sense of being dispersed from the natural national community.
Despite the dislocated geographical distance, a person in the Diaspora still holds an ideal
image of home and feels a certain level of attachment. The images of home cause the
elements of Diaspora, which are alienation, Nostalgia, effects of migration, sublimation, and
dislocation. The three texts show the impact of living in the Diaspora.

The first text, Nostalgia, and its Discontents, by Svetlana Boym, states that the
twentieth century started with an optimist belief of utopia but instead ended in Nostalgia.
Off-modern people cannot just return home, while Nostalgia does not acknowledge that
time cannot be reversed. The past dreams combined with the present needs have impacted
the future consideration, thereby promoting Nostalgia. Nostalgia negatively mixes the
imaginary with reality, and someone can even kill or die for the past cause. Co-creating the
future is quite challenging if people still have Nostalgia about a pre-selected past. The
dreams of the past should not be used as paths to the future. The second text, which is the
Scent of Apple by Bienvenido N. Santos, shows the Nostalgia of the older man who holds on
to certain ideals and specific beliefs, sentimental investment, and illusions of the past. Even
when the boy visited the old Filipino, he felt nostalgic about the familiar scent of apples. The
irrevocability of the past is shown when the older man says that he does not want to go
home because no one would remember him. The migrant also knows that he can never go
home after leaving twenty years ago. The reason for leaving and the present condition of
having a family mean that home is in the new country. The third text explains the Health
and Social Effects of Migration. Migrants are usually younger and healthier than the people
in their original nation. However, this healthy condition deteriorates as the person
assimilates into the host community. Migrants are also subjected to strain and stressors that
reduce their resistance to diseases. The health factors include socio economic struggle, poor
conditions at refugee camps, ongoing conflict, language barriers, and feelings of loneliness.
However, while most immigrants are healthy and young, some may have pre-existing
health conditions. They, therefore, require enhanced medication and treatment, which at
most times is not available.

The three texts Nostalgia and its Discontents, Scent of Apple, and Health and Social
Effects of Migration show the similarity of life in the Diaspora. Nostalgia and its
Discontents, Nostalgia in modernity is the mourning of being displaced in Diaspora and the
longing for the reversibility of history, time, and space. It shows that Nostalgia is not just a
longing but a yearning for a different childhood time and space created by dreams that put a
rift between the local and the universal. The second text shows a negative side to migration
and the feelings of loneliness that breed nostalgia. The Nostalgia is seen in the idealization of
Filipino women in the past, the keeping of the picture of an unknown Filipino, the apple
being a connecting symbol arousing Nostalgia, and the enthusiasm that Ruth and Roger had
to meet the first-class Filipino. The third text shows that migration in Diaspora causes the
young, healthy migration to be subjected to severe health conditions. The already ailing
immigrants also cannot access medication. This breeds a lot of health and social effects that
promote Nostalgia