Transidioma and Asylum: G umperz's Legacy in Intercultural Institutional Talk

Using ethnographic evidence from asylum hearings in various E uropean countries, this article discusses J ohn G umperz's legacy in the study of late‐modern communication. Asylum hearings to determine refugee status are one of the most complex adjudication procedures currently performed by W estern nation‐states. Every year thousands of displaced people seek the protection of various E uropean states by filing asylum claims, which are examined by national commissions. This article explores how G umperz's focus on code‐switching and crosstalk in multilingual communities has prepared the ground for the study of the transidioma, that is, the ensemble of asymmetrical technopolitical discourse strategies deployed over a multilingual, mixed‐media interactional field—such as is found in asylum hearings.