An A/r/tographic Exploration of Greek Migrant Youth Identities: New Media and Cultural Sustainability

Abstract

The widespread proliferation and ease of access to various forms of new media have inarguably shaped the way young adults communicate, form, and express their identities. The purpose of this chapter is to present new ways of understanding, being, and doing identity work with Greek migrant youth living in a global digital world. Inspired by my first-hand experience of migrating from Greece to Australia, the research design combines a/r/tographic approaches with participatory narrative inquiry and heteroglossia. Much of the study’s conceptual framework is built upon Bakhtin’s theories about how an individual develops a sense of self through the other, that is, through social interaction, language, and dialogue. Pairing discussion with art making, this chapter describes how participants came to understand themselves through the guise of others who also migrated to Australia during their youth whilst interacting in the digital space of videoconferencing. An example of a participant’s Instagram portrait is given, and one outcome, a survival guide for new migrants navigating new media use, is described. The study reveals some valuable ways the digital space can be used as a tool for the sustainability of culture, specifically for exploring a sense of self and belonging for new migrants in diaspora communities.