Home and Away: Experiences and Representations of Transnational South Asian Children

我们为两个相互关联的项目寻求资金，这些项目旨在探索东伦敦南亚儿童的归属感、地方和散居的经历，其中许多家庭与其原籍地保持着密切的跨国联系。虽然大多数儿童可能是孟加拉国人，但该项目将向所有来自印度次大陆家庭的儿童开放。一个关键因素将是这些儿童（8-13岁）如何体验和代表“跨国生活”，是否涉及到“祖国”旅行，还是成为人们不断迁移的家庭和社区的一部分。我们的研究将提出关于超越“两种文化之间”或“混合”模式的文化认同形成的重要问题。我们还旨在收集关于迁移与生命历程之间关系的新见解。该项目将与当地社区和艺术团体密切合作，并为儿童的声音提供论坛。研究结果将通过出版物、展览和项目网站对移民学者、教育家、决策者和一般公众具有重要意义。我们为两个不同的项目寻求资金，它们解决了相关的问题：儿童跨民族主义的表现和经验（在东伦敦的实地考察，由曼德康威博士进行）。2. 翻译和代码转换：孟加拉国跨国儿童在地方之间（博士学位；在伦敦和锡尔赫特的实地考察）拟议的研究将在三个核心方面与众不同：儿童在现有的理论和散居的叙述中很大程度上被忽视。英国南亚人口的特点是儿童数量众多，但尽管对“南亚青年”的研究越来越多，但实际上没有对学龄儿童，特别是十几岁前的儿童进行研究（例外是James 1974； Jackson & Nesbit 1993 &1995）。然而，在英国出生的南亚儿童，他们中的许多人被“祖国”收养或定期接待访客，在归属感、文化认同和地方问题上，可能与成年人有明显不同的观点。他们正处于过渡时期，然而，除了“介于两种文化之间”的流行（通常是错误的）假设之外，我们对他们的观点知之甚少。(2)它将有助于发展新的移民理论。迁移与生命历程之间的关系是迁移研究中一个日益引起人们兴趣的领域。通过从个人及其家庭的生命周期的角度来理解移民，我们可以更好地理解有助于迁徙和定居的决定，以及身份如何随着时间和空间而变化。到目前为止，在这一领域开展的工作主要涉及老年人（Gardner, 2002）。通过关注儿童，我们将从光谱的另一端审视这些过程，旨在通过儿童的想象、文化习俗和表现形式，将跨国移民的再现和改变方式理论化。(3)我们将发展创新的参与性研究方法和传播形式。与当地学校和社区团体合作，我们打算让孩子们创作故事、日记和视觉呈现他们的“家和客场”经历。为此，我们计划举办一系列艺术、讲故事和写作工作坊。中心产出将是一本以儿童的视觉、口头和文字表现为基础的书、一次艺术和摄影展览以及与儿童合作制作的一个网站。这些产出将引起教师、从业人员、家长以及一般公众的兴趣。为了促进这一点，我们将与志愿和公共部门合作，例如贝斯纳格林的儿童博物馆。

We seek funding for two interlinked projects which seek to explore the experiences of belonging, place and diaspora of South Asian children in East London, many of whose families retain close transnational links with their places of origin. Whilst the majority of children are likely to be Bangladeshi, the project will be open to all children whose families originate from the Indian sub-continent A key element will be how these children (aged 8-13 years old) experience and represent 'transnational lives', whether this involves travel to 'the homeland', or being part of families and communities in which people constantly move. Our research will pose important questions concerning the formation of cultural identity that move beyond models of 'between two cultures', or 'hybridity'. We also aim to gather new insights into the relationship between migration and the life course. The project will involve close collaboration with local community and arts groups and provide forums for children's voices to be heard. The findings will be of importance to scholars of migration, educationalists, policy makers and the general public through publications, exhibitions and a project website. We seek funding for two distinct projects, which address linked questions: 1. Children's Representations and Experiences of Transnationalism (fieldwork in East London, to be carried out by Dr Kanwai Mand). 2. Translation and Code Switching: Bangladeshi transnational children between places (a Dphil studentship; fieldwork in London and Sylhet) The proposed research will be distinctive in three central ways: Children are largely ignored in existing theories and accounts of diaspora. South Asian populations in the U.K are characterised by high numbers of children, but whilst there has been a growing body of work on 'South Asian youth' virtually no research has been carried out on school children, particularly the pre-teens (exceptions are James 1974; Jackson & Nesbit 1993 &1995). Yet South Asian children born in Britain, many of whom are taken on or receive regular visitors from the 'homeland', are likely to have a significantly different perspectives than adults on questions of belonging, cultural identity and place. They are in transition, yet beyond popular (and often misguided) assumptions of being 'between two cultures', we know little about their perspectives. (2) It will contribute to the development of new theories of migration. The relationship between migration and the life course is an area of growing interest in migration research. By understanding migration in terms of the life cycle of individuals and their families, we can better appreciate decisions which contribute to movement and settlement, as well as how identities change over time and space. So far, work carried out in this area has largely involved older people (Gardner, 2002). By focusing on children, we will be examining these processes from the opposite end of the spectrum, aiming to theorise the ways in which transnational migration is both reproduced and changed through children's imaginings, cultural practices and forms of representation. (3) We shall develop innovative participatory research methodologies and forms of dissemination. Working with local schools and community groups, we intend for the children to produce stories, diaries and visual representations of their experiences of 'home and away". To do this, we are planning a series of arts, storytelling and writing workshops. A central output will be a book based on children's visual, oral and scribal representations, an exhibition of art and photography and a website produced in collaboration with the children. The outputs would be of interest to teachers, practitioners and parents, as well as the general public. In order to facilitate this we will collaborate with the voluntary and public sector, for example the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.