The second generation of displaced people living in Khartoum is very heterogeneous. Some of its members are from the Southern tribes, others are from the Nuba Mountains and still others are from the Western province. Their parents carry the memory of their villages and of rural lives as well as the direct experience of war and loss. But how is the urban context in which they have been born and brought up shape the identity of this second generation? Many have found livelihoods in the informal sector and as with the case of Souk Leebya and the Leather goods Souk in Khartoum this informal entrepreneurial activity has become vigorous enough to be able to formalise itself within the economy.

How does this second generation think of itself? What new amalgam of the diverse traditions which they have inherited are they forming and is there an experience or condition whether it is of exclusion, detachment or alienation that unites them and defines them as a group?     

The aim of this paper is to examine how the collective identities of displaced communities in Khartoum are tentatively re-appropriating new identity spaces and redefining their sense of belonging and how this may perhaps be contributing to a new, particularly youth urban identity and culture.

This new identity is manifesting itself through a new hybrid or cosmopolitan Art and Music and it is even permeating the street language of the young Khartoumians where words from the vernaculars of the south and from the West have been absorbed into their vocabulary.

The paper will start by presenting a brief theoretical framework based on key literature on identity (re) production and (re) formation as well as hybrid identities.

It then contextualises internal displacement in Sudan and to Khartoum in particular by giving a brief historical overview of this and of the growth of Souk Leebya and the Leather souk into the fully fledged markets they are today..

3 long fragments from a feature length documentary will then be presented discussing how a particular cultural urban identity is emerging:

1: A Zaghawa boy from chad working as a peddlar in Souk Leebya and how his experience of belonging and not belonging mirrors my own experience as a Sudanese/ British.

2: An enterprising Shillouk tea lady and a bunch of leftist Students who are her friends and regular customers. The presence of the Camera in this context precipitated some revelations and a sharing of experience which has taken their friendship to a new level.

3: A Felatta wedding singer and bridal dance trainer who incorporates the music traditions and dance moves of various different peoples in the Sudan and neighbouring African countries in her songs and choreography.

The key points raised will be: In the poor densely populated peripheries of Khartoum are people from diverse tribes and regions mixing with each other? Are some of the rigid cultural and racial barriers breaking down as people become neighbours? Is it easier for men to break these barriers because of the double standard to do with sexual morality restricting women? Is a cultural exchange of sorts taking place?  These so called ghettoes are heterogeneous but are there any social or political resistance and how is this expressed? Are we beginning to see the formation of an urban consciousness or identity forming among the displaced in the city and is this identity permeating the consciousness of other disaffected groups whether among young intellectuals or the poor?
 
From my observations whilst filming in Sudan for two month I think there is a fledgling new urban identity forming. The strength of this new identity is that it is challenging rigid conservative orthodoxy not through confrontation but through being perceived as cool by a young Urban generation and offering a lighter, freer more individualistic style of self expression and thus an alternative youth culture to the combative and rhetoric induced Youth culture that the present Sudanese regime has tried to manufacture in the past 10 – 15 years.            

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The town of Tine is located along the northeast border of Chad and the northwest border of Sudan.  Tine is situated in the centre of Dar Zaghawa, the homeland of the ethnic group of Zaghawa. It represents the focal point for economic interactions between traders from Chad, Sudan and Libya. Because of Tine’s location and economic importance in the region, it has played a central role for all those involved in the Darfur conflict.  Since the beginning of the Darfur armed rebellion in February of 2003, Tine has seen numerous attacks as well by rebels as by government power and has served as a central location for refugee’s fleeing the conflict.  As a result, the general day to day life of the people living in Tine and in particular the trade markets have under went many changes in terms of locations, traders, customers and income. These changes and its effects on those living in and around Tine and the market itself will be the focus of this presentation.

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