Unleashing the power of the hyphen: application of arts-informed inquiry and psychoanalytic perspectives in autoethnography to explore cultural hybridity
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Abstract
In the postcolonial discourse of the social sciences, the term hybridity, most commonly used in the domains of engineering and agriculture, refers to “the [complex] interbreeding or mixing of different peoples, cultures and societies” (AlSayyd, 2001). The unique result in such multicultural societies comprising large population sub-groups, including asynchronystic waves of immigrants, is that individuals may experience identity conflict, questioning their membership in local social groups. They may painstakingly negotiate the locus or habitus (Bordieu, 1977; Mathieu, 2009) of their belonging. To explore and, in case of necessity, to better assist these individuals in coping with potential anxiety, inferiority complexes, and a sense of inadequacy within their social environments different from the loci of their cultural and linguistic origin, the proposed study uses psychoanalytic perspectives to 1) conceptualize hybridity in the context of culture, language, citizenship and power relations, 2) explore and expand the personal dimension of hybridity by applying the qualitative research that involves a cross-analysis of multiple case studies. More specifically, the data set includes biotexts, or autoethnographic narratives in para-poetic or visual formats composed by the individuals who study or work in Canada, and who consider themselves populations of dual or multiple cultural backgrounds. To make these narratives, the study participants collected their personal memos, reflective journals, and family stories. The assumption is that such pursuit helps the study populations to better recognize and voice the formative constituents of their cultural belonging and make sense of their citizenship loyalties.