Media as an identity negotiator among "Swedish" children in Athens and "Japanese" in London

• With its transcultural perspective this paper looks at how families (i.e., parents and children) talk about children’s identity and the importance of mothers’ homeland media for the children, who are surrounded by a global popular media culture. Both studies used similar methods: interviews, participant observation, and photo-taking. The analysis shows the complexity of identity formation and the need to apply a contextual and relational perspective when wanting to understand the roles of media in the process of forming identity. The mothers’ homeland media is an important construction tool in the process and helps the children not only with languages but also catch up with information about peers in mothers’ homeland.

Keyword

comparative research

migration

children

identity

homeland media use

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)