Chapter 1: In Search of A Place Called Home: The Linguistic, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Dislocations of Immigrants and Transnationals of Color

First and foremost, writing about immigration and transnationalism requires one to “go back to the source” (Cabral, 1973) in order to reconstruct personal and social memories of one’s native land, particularly from childhood or adolescence. This must be done before talking about the Western land to which one is voluntarily or forcibly moved. It is vitally important that one recreates memories of the place that used to be called “back home.” As Lee Ann Bell (2010) eloquently puts it, “As a bridge between past and present, social memory shapes identity, informs our interpretations of events, fuels grievances and claims on the present, and suggests what we might imagine for the future” (p. 47). However, for personal and political reasons, some immigrant and transnational subjects may feel that they do not have any place they call “back home,” or they might feel that they have multiple homes. Hence, the question becomes: What is home? It is often argued that home is or can be what one wants it to be. It is also widely believed that home does not have to be the country where one was born and where one grew up. Nor does it have to be the country one is forced to move to due to wars, ethnic and intercommunity conflicts, political persecutions, divorces, separation, or other reasons. Finally, it is often said that home does not have to be where one’s family and children live, although all of these places can be or feel like home to many people. Situating this question in a transnational context, it is worth further asking: What is home, or what may feel like home to transnational subjects of color living in Western lands? This is the crucial question upon which this chapter seeks to shed light.