Maintaining Links with the Homeland through Marriage and Naming
- 20 September 2018
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Brill in African Diaspora
- Vol. 10 (1-2), 72-91
- https://doi.org/10.1163/18725465-01001005
Abstract
The more contemporary wave of diaspora Africans constantly call upon a wide array of elements of their native cultures as they negotiate life in their host societies, signifying their continuing linkage to their homelands. This article examines marriage among Nigerian immigrants in the US for patterns expressing their continuing connectedness to their native cultures. I argue that marrying fellow Nigerians allows them to create a space where their native cultures become part of their daily lives. Legitimizing their marriages using Nigerian institutions, to an extent which is not required by US law, also signifies their connection to their homelands. When they give their children ethnic (Nigerian) names, they do so explicitly to express their cultural identity and roots and sow the seeds of this consciousness in their children. The more contemporary wave of diaspora Africans constantly call upon a wide array of elements of their native cultures as they negotiate life in their host societies, signifying their continuing linkage to their homelands. This article examines marriage among Nigerian immigrants in the US for patterns expressing their continuing connectedness to their native cultures. I argue that marrying fellow Nigerians allows them to create a space where their native cultures become part of their daily lives. Legitimizing their marriages using Nigerian institutions, to an extent which is not required by US law, also signifies their connection to their homelands. When they give their children ethnic (Nigerian) names, they do so explicitly to express their cultural identity and roots and sow the seeds of this consciousness in their children.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Transnational relationships and reunificationDemographic Research, 2016
- An Origin and Destination Perspective on Family Reunification: The Case of Senegalese CouplesEuropean Journal of Population, 2014
- An Econometric Analysis of The Remittance Determinants Among Ghanaians and Nigerians in The United States, United Kingdom, and GermanyInternational Migration, 2013
- Diaspora and Development? London‐based Nigerian Organisations and the Transnational Politics of Socio‐economic Status and GenderDevelopment Policy Review, 2012
- What is the impact of transnational migration on family life? Women's comparisons of internal and international migration in a small town in GhanaAmerican Ethnologist, 2011
- RECONCEPTUALIZING AFRICAN DIASPORAS: NOTES FROM A HISTORIANTransforming Anthropology, 2010
- Diaspora and development? Nigerian organizations in London and the transnational politics of belongingGlobal Networks, 2009
- ‘THE CHILD OF DEATH’: PERSONAL NAMES AND PARENTAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS MORTALITY IN BUNYORO, WESTERN UGANDA, 1900–2005The Journal of African History, 2008
- Gendering the Diaspora: Zimbabwean Migrants in Britain La question du genre dans la diaspora : les migrants zimbabwéens en Grande-BretagneAfrican Diaspora, 2008
- From global careers to talent flow: Reinterpreting ‘brain drain’Journal of World Business, 2005