Bereavement from afar: transnational grieving and the emotional geographies of migration |
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Authors: | Rosa Mas Giralt |
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Institution: | 1. Lifelong Learning Centre, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKr.masgiralt@leeds.ac.uk |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACTThis exploratory article aims to contribute to scholarship on migrants’ experiences of bereavement and grief through the loss of a parent in their country of origin. It considers how transnational bereavement and grieving relate to the ever changing emotional geographies of migration and transnational families. Empirical material is drawn from a research project conducted with Latin American and Latino-British families living in the north of England, particularly from narratives presented by sons and daughters who had experienced such bereavements. Middle generation migrants may express: a continuing bond with a deceased parent as part of their emotional support network; regret at missing the death of the parent and the reinforcement of ambivalent emotions regarding their migration project; boundary ambiguity towards the transnational family; and a sense of physical distance from the family home as a geographical cure which allows working through the grieving process and troubling changes in family configurations. |
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Keywords: | Transnational bereavement transnational grieving middle generation children continuing bonds emotions ambivalence |
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