FACTORS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CULTURAL IDENTITY IN MIGRANT WORKERS FROM SERBIA

Abstract

Within the two-year-long project “Neither There nor Here – Cultural Heritage and the Identity of the Gastarbeiter Population”, which was funded by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Serbia, efforts were made to determine the key parameters in the formation of the identity of temporary workers from Serbia. Due to limited duration time and the financing of the project, there was no in-depth research; instead the intention was to detect, ascertain and discuss the various elements that affect the dominant feeling of double belonging – on one side, to the country of origin, on the other, to the country they work in. In that sense, efforts were made in order to establish cognitive and semantic content of the concepts which are important for the determination of status, value system, behavior, feeling of belonging, level of acculturation and the construction of cultural identity in guest workers. Their stories were analyzed and the crucial moments in the construction of the gastarbeiter cultural identity – one we marked as liminal – were determined. As comparative groups which, with their experience, can help the better understanding of problems related to the cultural identity of gastarbeiters, among the interviewees were the returning migrant workers and members of their families who remained in Serbia as well as some members of cultural and educational associations of Serbs in Austria.