A homesick world: An exploration of the concept of home and the quest for belonging in an unfamiliar land
Abstract
This arts-based thesis is a research-creation of a photographic exploration of the concept of home and belonging for immigrants. Drawing on my personal experience as a photographer and an immigrant, I have shed light on my sense of homesickness and the loss of my sense of belonging in order to signify immigrants’ struggle in finding a place they can call home. This research paper is centered on the theories of “liminality,” the uncertain state of being in-between, of being neither here nor there, to discuss the transitional phase of separation from one’s homeland and integration into the new land. This liminality is a widespread experience in our modern era as mobility, immigration and separation from one’s home and the sense of being home is on the rise. I argue that photography is a therapeutic tool to overcome the lost sense of belonging as it helps me as an immigrant to contemplate on my transitional phase of life and gives me the opportunity to create bonds and connections with a lost home.
Notes
Location: Calgary, AB
Community organizations: n/a
Future research / gaps identified: n/a
Integration timeline: Not defined
Key findings:
1) Feelings of belonging and exclusion post-migration are described as “being located in the country and yet also being an outsider is always posing a tension between being of the home but not belonging to it.”
2) Finding belonging in a new country is described by liminality, which the author states as detaching from everything familiar, traveling through an ambiguous transition space, and then finding stability, integration and a new identity.
3) Photography can be used as a therapeutic tool for immigrants to reconnect with their home land as well as connect with their new country.
Key populations: Immigrants wrestling with a sense of belonging / not belonging
Key recommendations: n/a
Open access: Yes