Blog #4

Living on the Border

These articles showed a lot of different aspects that deal with parts of Chapter 8.  The topic I chose to help understand these articles was living on the border.  Living on the border can be described as living on the border physically which is making frequent trips between countries, or living on the border psychologically between bicultural identities (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p. 350).  This experience was described by anthropologist Victor Turner as the experience of liminality, which is defined as “the experience of being between two or more cultural position.”

“Lincoln refugee finds empathy as strife hits Congo” deals with the concept of living on the border because Kusukika is trying to live his life here in Lincoln, but can’t stop thinking about his life back home in Congo, especially when he hears bad things on the news that is going on here (Smith, 2011).  This shows that he is psychologically in both places, or living on the border, because his identity is part of both Lincoln and Congo. 

“Lincoln’s refugee students find language barriers when doing homework” deals with the concept of living on the border because Suu Bweh doesn’t speak English so this shows that she lives in Lincoln, but she is still apart of where she used to be from because of her language (Stefankiewicz, 2012).  This language barrier makes it difficult for some of her kids because they don’t know where to get help for homework and they have to be the translators of the family (Stefankiewicz, 2012). 

            “Lincoln community home to refugees from around the world” deals with the concept of living on the border because Free says the most important part to getting a job is learning the language (Myers, 2011).  This shows that they can’t stay in their own ways and just keep speaking the language that they know.  They need to learn English so that their identity can be both from their home country and here, especially if they want to succeed here.

            Intercultural communication perspective can help the process of intercultural transtions in many ways.  Communication is defined as, “a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p. 96).  This shows how vital communication is in general.  This can help explain why it is so important that the people trying to communicate with each other are fluent in the same language.  This is why the articles mentioned above talked about how the refugees that are resettling in Nebraska are trying to learn English.

            I think that the programs in place to help refugees here in Lincoln are doing a great job and should keep doing what they are doing.  Moving forward, I think the best bet for the refugees here is to learn English so that it is easier for them to find a job.  This will help intercultural communication so that they can speak more directly to each other.

References

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T. K. (2012). Intercultural communication in contexts (6th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill. 

Myers, E. (2011, December 5). Lincoln community home to refugees from around the world. News Net Nebraska. Retrieved from http://cojmc.webfactional.com/2011/12/05/lincoln-community-home-to-refugees-from-around-the-world/

Smith, M. (2011, December 11). Lincoln refugee finds empathy as strife hits Congo. Journal Star. Retrieved from http://journalstar.com/news/local/lincoln-refugee-finds-empathy-as-strife-hits-congo/article_6f011d2a-fe13-5d11-bbee-b5de6f5aba59.html

Stefankiewicz, R. S. (2012, May 13). Lincoln's refugee students find language barriers when doing homework. Journal Star. Retrieved from http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/family/lincoln-s-refugee-students-find-language-barriers-when-doing-homework/article_4fbd65f1-c12e-5702-90cd-1321dfda5257.html