Abstract
This essay, part of a larger study, speaks to the Syrian Diaspora’s lived reality in Canada, a complex topic that delves into issues of dislocation, displacement, loss, exile, identity, resilience and a desire for belonging (Alatrash, 2019; 2020). The study seeks to better understand these issues and the lived experience and human condition of the Syrian Diaspora in Canada. I engage autoethnography as a research methodology and as a method as I think and write from my own personal experience as a Syrian immigrant so that I could better understand the Syrian refugee’s lived experience (Alatrash, 2019). My research participants were three Syrian refugee families in Calgary, in addition to myself as an autoethnographer. As I autoethnographically analyzed, presented, and interpreted the stories of the three families, I identified a number of themes (Alatrash, 2019; 2020); this essay addresses one of these themes: On creating new possibilities: Activating and actualizing the Third Space (Alatrash, 2019).
Highlights
The Syrian Diaspora is a complex topic that speaks to issues of dislocation, displacement, loss, exile, identity, resilience and a deep desire for belonging
The arrival of Syrian newcomers to Canada was first marked on November 4, 2015 (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2017)
As an autoethnographic participant-observer, my aim in this paper was to suggest ways in which Canadians can be of help to the peoples of the Syrian Diaspora as they remediate their identities in Canada
Summary
The Syrian Diaspora is a complex topic that speaks to issues of dislocation, displacement, loss, exile, identity, resilience and a deep desire for belonging. As part of my doctoral research, seeks to qualitatively conjure up dynamic ways, through the active participation of the research participants, that may help in better understanding these issues and the lived experience and human condition of the Syrian Diaspora (Alatrash, 2019; 2020). One of the questions that has guided my research is: What do Syrian newcomers believe are ways in which Canadians can help as they try to make meaning of family and home in their new homeland, and as they negotiate and remediate their identities? I have divided this paper into three subthemes: On issues of language; on finding cultural intersections and third spaces; and on how Canadians be of help: Activating and actualizing the “third space” (Alatrash, 2019; 2020)
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