“We are Purified by Fire”: The Complexification of Motherhood in the Context of Migration

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between migration, the reconstruction of motherhood as identity and the transnational mothering role. The complexification of the mothering role in a transnational context is unpacked within a phenomenological approach. An in-depth thematic case study analysis of selected Zimbabwean women who had migrated to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, found that migration has implications for the ongoing identity development and relationship dynamics within the transnational family structure and further impacts on the women's perceptions of their social identity. This identity is mediated by a ‘double-othering’ as a consequence of the rejection of both the host community and her fellow Zimbabwean migrants.