The Development of New ‘Third-Cultural Spaces of Belonging’: British-Born Cypriot ‘Return’ Migrants in Cyprus

Abstract

This paper explores spaces of belonging of British-born Cypriots who have ‘returned’ to the parental homeland, Cyprus. Drawing on life narratives and ethnographic observations collected during fieldwork in Cyprus, the findings demonstrate the potential limitations of exploring notions of ‘home’ and ‘belonging’ within ethnic, national or primordial cultural boundaries. Rather, my analysis indicates the need to focus on the new spaces of belonging formed around personal and social relations. These migrants draw upon a variety of home, expatriate and international relationships to create a space made up by components to which they feel they belong, characterised by their time, place, views and experiences. The privileging of such experiences of belonging over ‘traditional’ classifications of identity (such as ethnicity, religiosity and nationality) brings about a sense of unity defined by one's relations to (actual and metaphorical) spaces, beyond the traditional ‘here/there’ and ‘them/us’ dichotomies. By negotiating ‘essentialised’ and ‘non-essentialised’ notions of ‘home’, participants establish new ‘third-cultural spaces of belonging’—hybridised, yet located in Cyprus. Hence, being part of such a ‘third-cultural space’ and also of a ‘localised space’ are not mutually exclusive.

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