Diaspora, Sporting Bodies and Aesthetic Formation: The Experiences of Dutch Somalis Examined

This paper builds on the concept of aesthetic formation to examine the sensorial practices through which diasporic imaginations become tangible, experienced as ‘real’, and 'felt in the bones'. The authors interpret cultural forms such as sport as a critical space for the embodied aesthetic forms through which diasporas materialise, with important implications for identification and belonging. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork on a transnational community-based sports event, the Amsterdam Futsal Tournament (AFT), the paper discusses how Somali diasporism is mediated, becomes tangible and how it strengthens the embodiment in subjects who participate in this event. The authors conclude that these sensorial modes can simultaneously elicit multiple forms and scales of belonging that also foster a sense of integration and belonging to the nation.