Ernstberger, Melissa (2021) A transnational family story: a narrative inquiry on the emotional and intergenerational notions of 'home'. Bachelor thesis.
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Abstract
At the core of migratory experiences lie key questions pertaining to one’s emotional changing Self: the complexity of conflicting identities, feelings of (un)belonging, varying degrees of emotional place (un)attachment, and more simply, the fundamental (re)conceptualizations of ‘home’. Though well-researched from various angles, ‘home’ as an emotional concept in the context of generational family migration research has many gains yet to be made. Through an in-depth, qualitative study on three generations of the author’s own family, this thesis finds that irrespective of individual differences, notions of ‘home’ are actively and similarly maintained across generations which have migrated. Places of familial origin are seen to play a role in the conceptualization of ‘home’ through a retainment of cultural practices and values derived from the ancestral homeland. Equally, though the exact location of ‘home’ differs between individuals, the notion that ‘home’ is where the family is remains predominant. Given the geographically dispersed nature of family members, ‘home’ is often multiple. Transnational emotional ties and transnational notions of ‘home’ make way for a setting in which ‘home’ is transient. Above all, interview responses and post-migration reflections on ‘home’ demonstrate that such conceptualizations do not exist in an emotional vacuum. Future studies could benefit from working upon this research to establish whether such findings are applicable across various family settings and contexts. Additionally, this paper calls upon future research to actively reflect and include discussions on emotions throughout the research process, especially on topics central to the human lived experience as is often the case in migration research.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Human Geography and Planning |
| Supervisor: | Adaawen, S.A. |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jul 2021 16:28 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jul 2021 16:28 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3504 |
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