Second generation Turkish Americans’ negotiation of cultural identity: A phenomenological study on “Being a Needle in the Haystack”

Date

2022-08

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Abstract

Second-generation Turkish Americans are heavily influenced by their cultural origins and their upbringing in the United States. As a result, these two factors shape how they perceive themselves as well as their interactions within the U.S. culture. This dissertation research examines how second-generation Turkish Americans negotiate, construct, and perform their identities, in a space that is shared among the culture of their origins and the dominant U.S. culture they are born into. Through an inductive hybrid approach and emergent research process, the complex interplay of power and agency between dominant American spaces and group members is identified as central to second-generation Turkish Americans lived experiences. Twenty-two in-depth phenomenological interviews between second-generation Turkish Americans were conducted to provide a better understanding of how second-generation Turkish Americans make meaning behind the second-generation phenomenon as “offspring immigrants.” Their experiences can best be understood through the lenses of Co-Cultural Communication Theory and Differential Adaptation Theory. Participants’ experiences indicate that second-generation Turkish Americans negotiate identity through assimilative, accommodative, and separative communication strategies within the U.S. socio-cultural landscape. Four themes emerged around the concept of 1) avowed articulations of Turkish American identity; 2) marking characteristics of the U.S. dominant culture; 3) co-cultural communicative strategies used to navigate the dominant U.S. culture; and 4) differentially navigating the power dynamics that the U.S. culture imposes. Participants revealed the use of existing co-cultural strategies reflective of Co-Cultural Communication Theory, while also identifying the use of blending and co-cultural networking as two new strategies not previously identified in past research. Second-Generation Turkish Americans lean towards assimilation strategies (i.e., blending, censoring self, and averting controversy) reflective of the revelatory phrase being a needle in a haystack and in moments of difference were reluctant to seek accommodation. At times, they also indicate separation strategies (i.e., co-cultural networking) as a means of seeking affiliation and support with other co-cultures. Their negotiations inform us how pronounced the U.S. culture and power structure is and its ability to influence offspring immigrants understanding of their cultural identity. At the same time, their insights provide us with understandings of how second-generation American experiences may differ from the immigrant parent's experience. For example, there were moments when second-generation Turkish Americans employed strategies indicative of hybrid and bicultural identities, whereby they balanced both assimilation and accommodation strategies. This was reflected through the revelatory phrase of embracing the middle ground. Participants’ articulations offer important implications regarding the complexity of offspring immigrant co-cultures’ navigations of cultural identity in the U.S. socio-cultural landscape, expands upon Co-Cultural Communication Theory, and by applying Differential Adaptation Theory to a U.S. co-culture it provides a cultural navigation framework beyond host/immigrant adaptation models and as such is more tailored offspring dynamics.


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Keywords

Turkish, Co-Cultural Communication Theory, Differential Adaptation Theory, Intercultural Communication, Offspring Immigrants, Cultural Identity

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