Home is never fixed, neither is its understanding. J. W. Duyvendak addresses issues related to this undertheorized concept, home, in "Why Feeling at Home Matters". He claims that there exist three elements that define home: familiarity, haven and heaven. Further, elaborating on heaven, it is "A public place where one can collectively be, express and realize oneself; where one feels publicly free and independent. Home here embodies shared histories; a material and/ or symbolic place with one's own people and activities" (Duyvendak 38). In other words, the environment you are in and the people you are surrounded by is vital in terms of whether one feels at home or not. Building upon Duyvendak's argument, I will elaborate on another key aspect, …show more content…
These children have dual identities. They are the combination of two distinct cultures, in our case, Chinese and American. On the one hand, they will always relate to their birth culture as well as adoptive culture, consciously or unconsciously. According to Rachel, an adoptive mother, "the experience reinforced me feeling/ belief that my daughter is not just of our family but that her roots in China are just as an important part of her and in some ways more important than we are" (Ponte et al. 117). For these adopted children with dual identities, their roots are in China, their birth country. Even though they have no clear memory of the country, they still unconsciously identify with it. On the other hand, the adoptive parents' house is where they have been feeling at home since their early lives, based on Duyvendak's "Why Feeling at Home Matters". "From their phenomenological point of view, home is perceived as a safe and familiar place, be it a haven or shelter, where people can relax, retreat and care" (Duyvendak 27). These adoptive children grew up in the houses of their adoptive parents, they are more familiar with it than anywhere else. As a result, it is also fair to say that they feel at home when they are in their adoptive parents' house since familiarity is such a key defining aspect. This claim is also …show more content…
On the one hand, the fact that they relate to two cultures eases the process of feeling at home. It helps them connect with more familiar objects, two times as we normally do. For instance, if an adopted child in the study conducted by Gomes et al. were to be traveling in another country away from home. He would relate to home if he sees Chinese fire crackers or American cheeseburgers since they are products from native and adoptive country of his. For us, we would only relate to fire crackers or to cheeseburgers since we only come from a single background. In a nutshell, it is much easier for dual identity individuals to feel at home for the reason that they have the blood of two countries running through their veins. On the other hand, it can be quite problematic for them to fully commit to and be accepted in either culture. People tend to take on "identity-based social recognition" (Gomes et al. 2), where we are more likely to bond with people like ourselves. Dual identity individuals are considered to be Chinese when in America, and American when in China. People select which aspect of their identities to see, ergo leading to problems in feeling at home in China and in America. In a sense, dual identity individuals feel at home everywhere, and
What is home? Home does not necessarily have to be a specific place it could also be a place that you feel safe or comfortable in. From the early 1500s to the late 1900s, Britain used its superior naval, technological, and economic power to colonize and control territories worldwide which affected how most of these people's thoughts on what home is. In “Back to My Own Country” this story is about a girl that moved to london at a young age and was forced to change her morals and beliefs to try and seem less than an outsider to the community. The second story “Shooting an Elephant” is about orwell, a sub divisional police officer in Moulmein who was hated by large numbers of people and didn't feel welcome where he was and later was forced
Marcus Garvey once said, “A [person] without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” (Brainy Quote 1). In cross-cultural adoption, many of the children growing up in White families or any other race different from theirs almost always never learn about their cultural background and native language. They grow up without an understanding or connection to their native culture. In Only Drunks and Children tell the Truth, Drew Hayden Taylor focuses on Janice, a woman who knows nothing about her indigenous lan...
The kid would adopt the cultures from both parents, which will be different from other kids that also adopt two other cultures form their parents in other cultures. This issue is significant in the article What 's Black, Then White, and Said All Over “New terms, dwelling on the periphery, tend to have authenticity cred, and some of them, too, will eventually undergo the media glamour treatment that makes them pop. It
A person without a home has a chance to become who they are at their roots, their core. A home comes with constrictions, conditions, comforts and consolations that make a person stay sedentary. A home makes it easy to decide what type of person someone is. They are easy described by the things they have and the things they don’t. It is only when a character, a person, is separated that they can become who they are. No longer are they the ones who followed or lead, independent
"To feel a sense of belonging, you need to accept yourself and be accepted by others."
Home is experienced in a multitude of ways using our senses. Impressions of our past and present homes materialize from a familiar smell, sight, feeling, taste or sound. We all live in a multi-sensory environment, where we can use one or more of our senses on a daily basis to absorb our surroundings. However, it is easily arguable that although each sense can conjure up a memory, or imprint a grasp of where we live or lived, certain senses are stronger with the recollection or the feelings we have of our home. If we live in the same home as other people, some of us will associate a certain smell to the home, while others will not; or a sound, etc., that I would not associate with that home.
It is in gaining a sense of our identity that we find a place to belong. This is presented in Episode 4, Stand Up, of the television series Redfern Now, directed by Rachael Perkins.
A baby boy is born in a clinic within an impoverished village in Thailand. The mother, who had no immediate family and was unwed, deceased during childbirth, leaving her son an orphan. The baby was placed in foster care and soon adopted by an American couple. The couple then raises the boy in their home as their own. He grows up in a suburban neighborhood, learns English, attends public school, lives within an entirely American culture, and embraces it. He is aware that he comes from a different familial background and is of a different nationality than his parents, but he has made the choice to identify himself with the ethnicity that he has grown to love. He believes that his ethnic identity entirely up to him. A Thai boy choosing the ethnicity of an American child as his own goes against the widespread belief that ethnicity is in our DNA, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, he is setting the example. Being able to make a meaningful choice in your ethnic identity is something everyone should be allowed to do, no matter the situation. Nobody should be expected or forced to believe in an ethnicity determined by their race or heritage because everyone has their own beliefs. Your personal notions give you the power to decide who you want to be, just like the Thai boy. Ethnicity is the choice everyone can make to be the individual they want to be and the origin of a person’s ethnicity is not inherent or defined by race, it comes from personal beliefs.
Throughout their stories, we got to experience the struggles they went through in pursuit of their journey and their loss of home. In the Odyssey, home is the place where you live. It is where your family resides, where your house is located, and where people know you. It is a physical place. One of the most important themes in the Odyssey was hospitality.
Chinese-Americans authors Amy Tan and Gish Jen have both grappled with the idea of mixed identity in America. For them, a generational problem develops over time, and cultural displacement occurs as family lines expand. While this is not the problem in and of itself, indeed, it is natural for current culture to gain foothold over distant culture, it serves as the backdrop for the disorientation that occurs between generations. In their novels, Tan and Jen pinpoint the cause of this unbalance in the active dismissal of Chinese mothers by their Chinese-American children.
Quindlen’s thesis statement, “home is where the heart is,” embodies her main message about how a home is more than a house or where one spends their nights. One of the examples that she used, was that family and friends defined having a place to call “home.” It has been that way for many generations. Being “the legacy of an Irish grandfather” gave her an urgency to find a home or “sense of place.” However, she also provided examples on how home can be considered “real estate,” and that some people may never find a home.Without a home, one can never be complete, because “home is where the heart
Sense of place is the “development of level of comfort and feelings of safety that are associated with a place” (Kopec, p. 62). These associations often translate into that desired sense of belonging, and allow individuals the ability to “develop feelings of attachment to particular settings based on combinations of use, attractiveness, and emotion” (Stokowski, 2002). Developing these psychological connections with certain places lends itself to the concept of place attachment, or, “a person’s bond with the social and physical environments of a place” (Kopec, p. 62). These places often hold deep meaning for people because their identities were established among their surroundings. This affiliation between a person and their place is often seen through personal connection, comfort, and security (Kopec, p. 131). Many people feel as though the place they are in should have its own “special character”, or an identity that defines it, and distinguishes it from other places (Kopec, p.1). Kopec states, “An environment’s distinct spatial features, how it compares with others, its connections to personal life paths, and its potential for change combine to affect the meanings places have for people”. An establishment of this sense of place identity ...
Home is a term that is used throughout the world as the place where one lives.
“Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends always belong, and laughter never ends (Robot check).” A place becomes a home for me when I am around all the things that I enjoy and love. For example, when I am around everyone that I love, I enjoy a peaceful environment and the beautiful landscapes around me. The interpretation of home for me is not a physical thing that I see or that I can remember or even certain thoughts that I can relate, but it is a sensation that overcomes me when I envision being in the comfort of my own home. However, I know that this is a feeling that is calming to my soul and it quietly reassures me that I genuinely belong in a place where I can be free from people constantly judging me.
Knowing what makes up your identity, both physically and emotionally, as well as how much control you have over it, is important to finding your true meaning of life. By distinguishing who you are and what you want to become, you are able to figure out what you can change in order to become happier with who you are. Since the environment you are born in and the one’s you decide to choose weigh so heavily on your entire identity, it is important to find one at which you feel most at home and not a part of the shadows.