Spatial and Temporal Identity and Belonging
摘要
Chapter 7 scrutinizes identity and belonging. How people identify themselves and their sense of belonging is no longer based on their life in Syria but after the experience of displacement. The following questions are explored in this chapter: How does time within the past, present, and future forms have a direct effect on people’s spatial experience? What kind of meaning is associated with the place? Can one keep the meanings associated with the place intact? Does the relationship between time and space influence decisions of return? The chapter further articulates how refugees spatially live through dual experiences continuously, always negotiating “here” and “there.” They also exist within multiple time frames: “before” and “after.” The meaning of today is always in relation to the bleakness of the future or the disappearance of the past as they know it. The chapter deals with the complexity of dual spatiality and multiple temporalities of identity and belonging in terms of proximity to the lost home, the idea of return in terms of security and memory, and the sense of displacement both in the home and the host country. Chapter findings show that relationality to time differs. How the past is located influences future projections differently, which, in effect, decides who they will be in the present moment.