The liverwort who wanted to take root

Abstract

This article offers an introspective, intentionally imperfect, and contradictory exploration of various dimensions of multiple selves, belonging, and the migrant experience. It focuses on the author’s personal experiences, examining the contradictions and challenges inherent to constructing a diasporic identity. The author unravels the complexities of self-identification and external perceptions, emphasizing how labels, names, and physical appearance influence interactions and self-understanding in specific cultural and geographical contexts. The adequacy of conventional words and terminology is questioned, as is their capacity to fully capture the richness and diversity of migratory and diasporic experiences. An argument is made for a more flexible conceptualization capable of accommodating the wide range of different backgrounds, challenges, and realities of racialized people and migrants of East Asian origin. Overall, the article proposes a re-evaluation and re-orientation of the dominant narratives and discourses around identity and migration. Through a personal reflection, it seeks to celebrate the multiplicity and complexity of diasporic identities and experiences using contradiction as a starting point.