******************************************************************* Goanet enters its tenth year this year. Below is an academic paper, written some time back, by Alberto G Gomes, based in Australia (La Trobe University), but currently in Helsinki for some months. *******************************************************************
>From SOCIAL ANALYSIS Journal of Cultural and Social Practice ------------------------------------------------------------ Computer-Mediated Communication in Australian Anthropology and Sociology edited by Helen Morton * Issue 45(1) April 2001 GOING GOAN ON THE GOA-NET: Computer-Mediated Communications and Goan Diaspora By Alberto G Gomes [EMAIL PROTECTED] Introduction With the growing access to computer and information technologies, computer-mediated communication (CMC) has emerged as an important vehicle of interaction. Electronic mail (email) and the world-wide web have become so common these days that they are taken for granted particularly in the developed world and relatively affluent classes of society. In light of these developments, an increasing number of anthropologists and sociologists have turned their critical eye to the social and cultural implications of computer and information technology (see Hakken 1999 for a review of some of these attempts). One pressing concern is whether the definitions and understanding in respect to concepts such as culture, community and identities are applicable to computer-mediated interactions. This has prompted some to rethink classical approaches to such concepts (Hakken 1999). In this paper, I will address some of these issues in the context of CMC among Goans. To be more specific, I will discuss the role of CMC in the construction and maintenance of cultural identities among Goans, particularly diasporic Goans. Goans are typically defined as people who claim a cultural and social connection with Goa, a small state on the west coast of India, south of Mumbai (Bombay). As Priolkar (1983:270) suggests, the term 'Goan' refers to "anyone, whatever his present whereabouts, whose forefathers have been domiciled in Goa at any time in history and who is aware of this connection and cherishes and values it". On the 31st of May 1987, Goa was declared as the 25th state in the Indian Republic, five months after Konkani, the main language spoken in Goa, was recognised as an official Indian language. This was a significant political event for the Goans in their persistent struggle for recognition as a distinct and autonomous people in the relatively diverse Indian cultural mosaic. It has taken the Goans 26 years to achieve this status. In 1961, the Indian government drove out Goa's colonial masters of 451 years, the Portuguese, who have left a strong but waning cultural influence on Goans. About 90 per cent of Goans speak Konkani, which constitutes the main ethnic marker for Goans but this linguistic unity gives a false impression of a united community. Goans are divided by religion but not as poignantly as the case in other parts of India. Hindus form about 60 per cent of the population, while the Catholics constitute 38 per cent and Muslims 2 per cent. As one would expect, four and half centuries of Portuguese hegemony has had a direct and radical impact on Goa and the Goans. During most of their colonial rule. the Portuguese had suppressed local culture and imposed their culture and religion on the people. They implemented the infamous inquisition during which they persecuted Hindus and Muslims as part of the treacherous design to forcefully convert the people to Christianity. Hindu temples and mosques were destroyed and replaced with churches, and people were made to feel scornful of cultural practices viewed as inimical to Christianity. People were also discouraged from using their native language, Konkani, in favour of Portuguese, which was introduced as the language of official business, commerce, and education in Goa. Portuguese rule also engendered a lack of political liberties, economic underdevelopment, poor educational facilities, and cultural bigotry not only from the colonial masters but also from Christian Goans against their Hindu compatriots in Goa. GOAN DIASPORA Not surprisingly, the poor socio-economic conditions prevailing in Goa at the time of Portuguese colonialism served as a push factor for the large-scale emigration of Goans, particularly at the turn of the century. This created a Goan diaspora. Robert Newman, an American anthropologist, describes the phenomenon in a rather poetic way: Migration and exile for thousands of families and more thousands of single men created and sustained a nostalgic longing for a beautiful and perhaps imaginary Goa that was talked and sung about from Kampala to Macau. Goa was the special golden homeland of swaying coconut palms in the moonlight, of tasty dishes like sorpotel-sanna and bangra recheado, of violins and the mando, white- washed churches, intruz, ladainha, and red, fertile soil (Newman 1988:3). To keep in touch with Goa and their Goan-ness, diasporic Goans all over the world established Goan associations. Some associations are village- or regional-linked where membership is formed out of Goans from the same village or region. There are also Konkani associations that are not exclusively Goan and include expatriate Konkani-speaking people from other parts of the Konkan region in India. Sometimes there is more than one Goan association in the same locality. This is usually the case when the Goan community in the area is divided according to cultural allegiance towards either Indian or Portuguese. For example, in Melbourne there are two associations, one consists of people who still maintain an allegiance to Portuguese culture while the other, consisting of mostly younger Goans, are more Indian oriented. These associations mostly hold social functions such as fetes and the celebration of feasts of village patron saints and other festivities and are rarely political. Some associations do maintain a close contact with Goa by sponsoring development and community projects in Goa. GOAN CYBERSPACE In an article entitled 'Goa-ing into cyberspace' in the magazine 'Goa Today' (April 1997) Frederick Noronha notes that Goa, the smallest state in the Indian Republic, has become the tenth place in the nation to gain access to the information superhighway. This is rather ironic given the fact that any tourist in Goa would notice the relatively poor state of its roads and highways and yet this seemingly slow-moving place is the base for about ten active web sites on the internet. Furthermore, a growing number of people in the state are beginning to 'travel' on the information superhighway, as Internet service providers are making a roaring business in Goa. In February 1997, a meeting of expatriate Goans was held in London to deliberate on the theme "Goa on the Internet" and the consensus at the meeting was that "the internet was an under-utilised resource that offered vast potential for Goans" (Noronha 1997:23). The first Internet initiative was the establishment of the Goa-Net, a mailing list of people interested in Goa. It was formally started on the 17th of September 1994 by Herman Carneiro, based in the United States. At the time of writing in February 2000 over a thousand people from all over the world subscribe to the Goa-Net. A large number of subscribers are 'lurkers', a term used to refer to people that only read the postings and do not participate in the discussions. Most are diasporic Goans but there are a growing number of local Goans on the list. Carneiro describes the Goa-Net in the following way: The members of the net get news posted daily by the news crew of the net, who are located in Goa. We have hot sizzling debates on new items and discuss issues that pertain to Goans worldwide. The net certainly brings the international community in cyberspace together. 'Goa-Web', an internet site now amalgamated with another site to form 'Goacom' (http://www.goacom.com), was the first elaborate web site devoted to Goan issues and information. Goacom was set up in November 1995 and is managed by Marlon Menezes based in the US, John D'Souza in Canada and Joseph "Boogie" Viegas in Goa who is also involved in the setting up of a non-profit, community-oriented web site, 'Goenkar' (http://www.goenkar.com). For those interested in research in Goa, there is a website, 'Goa Research Net' (http://www.goenkar.com), which focuses on research themes in Goa. In 1999, there was a proliferation of new web sites with at least six new sites and a number of mergers. A new site called GOYAN (http://www.goacom.com/goyan), which stands for Goan Young Adult Network, was established for young Goans in North America. While many of these sites emanate from Goa they are clearly directed to non-resident Goans. Almost all the web sites provide a range of information from news from Goa to advertisements of real estate, hotels, and travel agents in Goa. For example, the headings in one of the more comprehensive sites, Goacom, include 'What's new?', 'Goa News', 'Real Estate', 'Accommodations', 'Tourist Services', 'Businesses', 'Pictures and Maps', 'Community Worldwide', 'Goan Cuisine', 'Culture', 'Village Showcase' and 'Meeting Place' (mailing lists, BBS, and Chat). In the 'What's New' section, there are links to pages containing information on property sales, investments and activities of Goan association in various parts of the world which would be of more interest to expatriates than to local Goans. The section on 'Community' is focussed on information about Goan diasporic communities while 'Meeting Point' seems to be targeted at expatriate Goans, as reflected in the sort of discussion topics on the Bulletin Board Service (BBS) as well as the initiators of the discussions who are mostly expatriate Goans. Some of the discussions topics and messages listed on the Goan BBS since its set up include mixed marriages, national identities, announcements of activities of Goa associations as well as activities in Goa, advertisements, and requests for touristic information about Goa. Occasionally bulletin board subscribers engage in politically charged and controversial discussions. Interestingly, the topic that attracted the most number of messages (93 in total) on the Goacom Bulletin Board was in relation to a debate about the Portuguese 'roots' in Goan identity. Arguably, this is an issue that never fails to attract controversy among the Goans. Topics that relate to relationships such as 'cyberspace infidelity' which received 54 messages and 'caste in Goa' (40 messages) are also popular. Controversial marital issues, such as mixed marriages, sex before marriage and 'cyberspace infidelity', seem to attract considerable discussion. So, too, do issues which confront diasporic Goans settled in North America, Europe and Australia where the youth are exposed to cultural values associated with marriage that are seen to clash with 'traditional' (usually Catholic) values of their parents and elders. The following posting by a self-identified Australian Goan encapsulates the expression on the net of this diasporic conflict: Hi all you Australian Goans out there. Just like to know how many of you visit the home page? Living in different parts of the world taints your perspective on life. Your attitudes and beliefs change and you become a sub-culture of your own, an amalgum (sic) of your previous culture (or your parents culture, in my case) and the new culture you are trying to assimulate (sic) into. What I am interested in is the experience of being a Goan overseas. If you have any issues that illustrate the experience, please feel free to add to this dialogue. For example, moving out before you are married is tabboo (sic) to most Goans. However, here in Australia it is commonplace. "Try before you buy" is the motto here. Otherwise you won't know how you will get along with each other when you are living together. This seems like a plausible line of argument in an age where the divorce rate has hit as high as 75% (on the last count). However, hit a Goan parent with this line or argument, and no matter how liberal they profess to be, I am sure you will come up against some heavy backlash (Goan BBS 29/6/97). The use of bulletin boards has expanded in the past few months. For quite some time Goenkar and Goacom were the only sites with a bulletin board but at the time of writing (February 2000) at least seven other sites maintain bulletin board services: Goyan, Goa-world (http://www.goaworld.com), Goa International (http://www.goainternational.com), Goainfosearch (http://www.goainfosearch.com), Viva Goa (http://www.vivagoa.com), GoaNet (http://www.goanet.com), and Goa-World (http://www.goa-world.net). In spite of this ample 'space' for Goans to communicate with one another, the mailing list, Goa-Net, the first CMC initiative for Goans, still continues to be popular. In response to a posting by a disgruntled Goan subscriber who derided the Goan-Net as "one of the most dull and disorganised of the Use Net groups", Trevor D'Souza, a regular netter (Goa-Net, 7/7/97) notes: 1. Goa Net is not a USENET newsgroup. It is an e-mail-based "news group". GoaNet is primarily a means of networking for Goans and "Friends of Goa" from all over the globe. 2. "Dull"? "Disorganised"? I think that it is fairly well- organised and interesting, thanks to active GoaNetters like Eddie who gives us news/comments from the UK and the Indian Press (also Rene/Ashley/James in the UK), Fred/Pamela/ Goa Herald Team who inform us about happenings from Goa and the rest of India, Marlon (US) who lets us know about info about Goa on USENET newsgroups; Tim/Eugene (Canada); Ullysses/Mario/A.V.Fernandes/Wellington Dias from the Middle East, Dr Teotonio R de Souza from Portugal, Dr Jose Colaco (Bahamas). Then there are the various project roganizers (Emmanuel/Eddie/Marlon) -- the movers and the shakers of GoaNet; the story tellers/poets (Jaime/ Johnny/Benegal/Sharmila); the active discussion initiators/participants (VM/Mario D'Souza/Cipriano/Paulo/ James). Add to that medical advice from Dr Colaco (Bahamas), jokes from Pete (Singapore), recipes transferred from GoaCom by Glenn Francis (Canada); our own computer handyman (Paulo from UK); book/coin/stamp seller (Benegal), romance (Sharon/James), and Jimmy Fernandes (when we last heard from him, he was asking "where are the girls"?). To sum it all up, it makes it an interesting network. At times, it does seem to appear inactive, but these times are usually when the active GoaNetters are usually on vacation (this last weekend, the USA GoaNetters were enjoying the long weekend), or busy with other activities. This defence of the Goa-Net by one of its active participants provides a good and brief account of the nature of issues covered and the key participants and their specific contributions and roles in this mailing list. I have followed discussions on the Goa-Net sporadically since February 1996. Goa-Net has been active for the past six years, during which time it has grown from a mailing list of about 100 members to more than 1000. In July 1998 Goa-net expanded when it incorporated another mailing list, GoaLink. Since July 1998, nine members have posted more than 100 messages, two of which have made more than 400 postings of mainly news reports from Goa. In a more detailed analysis of postings made during a two week period in July 1997 (18 July to 31 July), I counted 205 postings, an average of 15 per day. Fifty-five people made at least one posting and the person who provides news from Goa on a regular basis made 32 postings. Judging from the names of the participants, it appears that an overwhelming number were males and only about 5 or 6 female. Most are from outside of Goa judging from the email addresses. The subject matter of the postings range from controversial and political issues to jokes and humorous stories. There are some that inform fellow expatriate Goans of social functions or businesses as the following posting illustrates: As a proud Goan I would like to tell you about a new 'GOAN' restaurant that has opened in the Toronto, Canada area. It has to be one of the first authenticly Goan restaurants in North America. A couple of days ago I had the pleasure of visiting 'Pride of Goa'. I was very happy with the quality of the food, the enchanting decor and excellent service (24/7/97). During this two week period, the main discussion issues that took up considerable 'space' on the Goa-Net were on: Goan state politics, sex industry in Goa, India-Portugal comparisons (thread titled as 'Sleeping Portugal and Vibrant India') and mental illness in Goa. Interestingly, three out of the four popular topics were related to what is happening in Goa while the one on 'Sleeping Portugal and Vibrant India', as one would expect, was rather polemical and somewhat irrelevant to the current situation in Goa. During the period of my 'participant observation' of the Goa-Net, I encountered a range of discussion topics. A considerable number of them focused on issues affecting Goan itself such as malaria, tourism, drug problems, ecological problems, and paedophilia while there is the occasional discussion of issues affecting Goans living overseas. For example, several of the Goans living in the US exchanged views on US politics, especially during the presidential elections. There were several issues that have attracted rather heated exchanges among netters, leading to flaming (a term used to refer to the trading of personal insults over the net) in some cases. Some of these controversial issues relate to religion (such as the Christian-Hindu rivalries), Portuguese colonialism, the 'indianisation' of Goa, and comparisons of the different Goan diaspora. A popular topic is the definition of Goan identity, which once occupied the attention of 33 participants for one whole month (2/2/96 to 4/3/96). During this period about 72 postings were made on this issue and it appears that there was considerable private email communication among some of the discussants. The debate started when a regular netter in his posting suggested that "most Goans may dislike being referred to as 'Indians' because of the negative connotations associated with this sub-continent". He also raised the question "why it is that while we are generally proud to be called Goans, Goans from Africa and those from Bombay and Pakistan remain somewhat disunited -- operating separate entities (i.e. associations) and generally do not get along well". The response was overwhelming, some posting their replies on the Net while several sent private email messages to the initial discussant. The first public response was long and had fuelled further the rather controversial issue by raising other sensitive points. The first few sentences repeated below would reveal the tone and direction of his comment: I grew up in modern India... Until my family moved to NYC when I was 14 I had never suspected that there were "Goans" who did not consider themselves "Indians". Since then, extensive travel in Africa, Canada and the UK, brought me into contact with entire Goan communities (mostly Africanders) who acted as though Goa had nothing to do with India and that Indians (all 850 million) were somehow beneath them. Obviously this behaviour is delusional, and only sets Goans, particularly Africanders, further back. (3/2/96). The Goan identity discussion was however not entirely personal. There were instances where the discussants even invoked the postmodern theories of Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida to support their contentions. 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