In the Western tradition it reflects the colonization of the world by a private individual. Yet, for better or for worse, each romance with intimacy is adulterated by a specific culture and society. The revulsion against the embroidered cock on the teapot might surprise an American reader for whom the pursuit of domestic happiness goes together with spiritual fulfillment, not in opposition to it. Nina Berberova, The Italics Are Mine , trans. Hence, it would apply to Berberova and the Soviet exiles who came to the United States as refugees and till glasnost could never go back.
Diasporic intimacy is an inclusive rather than an exclusive category.
For further inspiring discussion of diaspora, cosmopolitanism, homeland, and immigrant poetics see the journal Diaspora and Nation and Narration , ed. Berberova, The Italics Are Mine , p. 338. American Heritage Dictionary , s.v. Roger Chartier, trans. Arthur Goldhammer, vol.