Home imagined - an ethnography
(2004)Sociology
- Abstract
- Problem statement: When a home does not naturally present itself to one as a given, what chance does one have of choosing a home for oneself? Aim: To investigate the possibility for a root-weak individual of finding a sense of belonging, sense of rootedness, a home. Brief description of points of departure and disposition: This thesis has materialized out of personally felt frustration with questions put to me throughout my life regarding my origin and belonging. As a child I shrugged off the questions. As an adult, and as a student of sociology, it is time to go in search of the answers. In doing so I have conducted interviews with three global souls and one of them have conducted an interview with a fourth: me. I have also performed a... (More)
- Problem statement: When a home does not naturally present itself to one as a given, what chance does one have of choosing a home for oneself? Aim: To investigate the possibility for a root-weak individual of finding a sense of belonging, sense of rootedness, a home. Brief description of points of departure and disposition: This thesis has materialized out of personally felt frustration with questions put to me throughout my life regarding my origin and belonging. As a child I shrugged off the questions. As an adult, and as a student of sociology, it is time to go in search of the answers. In doing so I have conducted interviews with three global souls and one of them have conducted an interview with a fourth: me. I have also performed a literature review in the interests of locating the cutting edge of research into this topic. Conclusions: All the subjects provided personal definitions of home, along the lines of Hobsbawm's Heim, whereas none of us were really able to come up with a tangible, culturally collective Heimat. My conclusion would therefore have to be that according to Hobsbawm's two-part definition of Home we remain partially homeless. In a world of increasing geographical and cultural complexity and interaction, though, perhaps that definition is coming close to having played out its role and the personal homes that we carry within us and externalize as we go along our way are all that in the end remain to any of us. Key words: home, homelessness, Heim, Heimat, international, cosmopolitan, nomad, rootless, root-weak, outsider (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1355929
- author
- Clausén, Marie
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2004
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Sociology, Sociologi
- language
- English
- id
- 1355929
- date added to LUP
- 2004-11-08 00:00:00
- date last changed
- 2011-05-12 15:48:37
@misc{1355929,
abstract = {{Problem statement: When a home does not naturally present itself to one as a given, what chance does one have of choosing a home for oneself? Aim: To investigate the possibility for a root-weak individual of finding a sense of belonging, sense of rootedness, a home. Brief description of points of departure and disposition: This thesis has materialized out of personally felt frustration with questions put to me throughout my life regarding my origin and belonging. As a child I shrugged off the questions. As an adult, and as a student of sociology, it is time to go in search of the answers. In doing so I have conducted interviews with three global souls and one of them have conducted an interview with a fourth: me. I have also performed a literature review in the interests of locating the cutting edge of research into this topic. Conclusions: All the subjects provided personal definitions of home, along the lines of Hobsbawm's Heim, whereas none of us were really able to come up with a tangible, culturally collective Heimat. My conclusion would therefore have to be that according to Hobsbawm's two-part definition of Home we remain partially homeless. In a world of increasing geographical and cultural complexity and interaction, though, perhaps that definition is coming close to having played out its role and the personal homes that we carry within us and externalize as we go along our way are all that in the end remain to any of us. Key words: home, homelessness, Heim, Heimat, international, cosmopolitan, nomad, rootless, root-weak, outsider}},
author = {{Clausén, Marie}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Home imagined - an ethnography}},
year = {{2004}},
}