Ali, Lutfiye and Sonn, Christopher (2010) Constructing identity as a second-generation Cypriot Turkish in Australia: the multi-hyphenated other. Culture and Psychology, 16 (3). pp. 416-436. ISSN 1354-067X

Abstract

This article explores how Cypriot Turkish people in Australia construct their multi-hyphenated identity and the implications this has for their sense of belonging. Ethnic identity is conceptualized as a set of social and cultural understandings, shaped by historical processes, positions of power and patterns of privilege, which people draw on to understand and experience themselves. Ten Cypriot Turkish people’s identities were explored through semi-structured interviews. Discourse analysis was used to identify the discursive constructions of identity and belongingness. Discourses that constructed the Cypriot Turkish Australian identity were: modern Muslim, language, phenotype and ancestry and generation discourse. These discourses give rise to the multi-hyphenation of this identity, positioning them as either Cypriot Turkish Australians or Cypriot Turkish in Australia. The discourses have highlighted not only the current socio-political context as shaping subjectivities, but also the historical and political collective memory that continues in the construction of ethnic identities.

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