Fluctuating Transnationalism: Social Formation and Reproduction among Armenians in Germany

257 Pages·2017·3.038 MB·English

by  Astghik Chaloyan (auth.)

Astghik Chaloyan
Fluctuating
Transnationalism
Social Formation and Reproduction
among Armenians in Germany
Fluctuating Transnationalism
Astghik Chaloyan
Fluctuating
Transnationalism
Social Formation and Reproduction
among Armenians in Germany
Astghik Chaloyan
Göttingen, Germany
Printed with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service and the Open
Society Foundations
ISBN 978-3-658-18825-2 ISBN 978-3-658-18826-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-18826-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017945267
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Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful to the many people who have supported, encouraged, and
inspired me during the process and preparation of this book. I would like to ex-
press my thankfulness to all those who assisted me during my fieldwork, and
who took part in this research. Without their help and readiness to share their
stories with me, it would have never been possible to prepare this work. Fur-
thermore, special thanks are directed to DAAD—Deutscher Akademischer
Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service)—which granted the
scholarship for my doctoral studies, and thus made this project possible.
I am infinitely grateful to my academic advisor Professor Steven Vertovec
for his support, inspiration, and encouragement, as well as for his insightful sug-
gestions and comments regarding the various drafts of this work. His guidance,
assistance, and kind advice have always been of great value to me, inspiring me
throughout the whole process of this research.
I express my very deep gratitude to my second academic advisor
Professor Matthias Koenig for his readiness to help, generosity of spirit, assis-
tance, and support at various stages of this research. When encountering stale-
mates, his constructive comments, advice, and guidance always set me on the
right track.
A big thank you also goes to Professor Gabriele Rosenthal. I have learned
a lot from her, and have multiplied my knowledge in the field of qualitative re-
search by participating in her seminars and workshops on qualitative research
methods.
The responsible process of editing and proofreading would have never
come about without the indispensable help of my friend, Anne Marie Bessette, to
whom I owe very special thanks.
No words are enough to express my eternal gratitude to my aunt Julieta
Chaloyan for her encouragement, inspiration, and tenacious support. Without her
invaluable assistance and motivation, I would have never managed to complete
this work.
I dedicate this book to the memory of my parents.
Astghik Chaloyan
May 2017, Göttingen
Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 11
1.1 Transnationalism studies: state-of-the-art and the perspective of
the book ................................................................................................. 12
1.2 Studying Armenian transnational ties and components of belonging:
the research questions ............................................................................ 16
1.3 Methodological framework and research methods ................................ 19
1.3.1 Data collection and analysis ......................................................... 19
1.3.2 Reflections on the fieldwork: an Armenian researcher studying
the Armenian community ............................................................. 23
1.4 Outline of the book ................................................................................ 25
2 Transnationalism and Diaspora. Analytical Frameworks ..................... 29
2.1 Transnational approach in studying migration ...................................... 30
2.1.1 Traditions of studying transnational migration ............................. 30
2.1.2 Definition of transnationalism ...................................................... 32
2.1.3 New social phenomenon or the familiar transformed
in its meaning? .............................................................................. 37
2.1.4 Durability of transnationalism: reproduction of ties vs. fading
connections ................................................................................... 39
2.1.5 Transnational social fields as analytical categories ...................... 43
2.1.6 Conceptual triad of ‘configurations–representations–encounters’
in transnationalism studies ............................................................ 46
2.2 Who are diasporas and why are they transnational? .............................. 52
2.2.1 Concept of diaspora ...................................................................... 52
2.2.2 Transnational community or diaspora .......................................... 59
Concluding remarks .................................................................................... 61
3 Historical Background of Armenian Migration, and Formation of the
Armenian Diaspora. Manifestations of the Strategic Nationalism ....... 63
3.1 Historical background and waves of Armenian migration .................... 63
3.2 Formation of the Armenian diaspora ..................................................... 67
3.3 Strategic nationalism: the case of the Armenian diaspora ..................... 74
3.3.1 Definition of long-distance nationalism ....................................... 74
8 Contents
3.3.2 Core aspects of Armenian collective memory as underlying
factors of strategic nationalism formation .................................... 79
3.3.3 Development of Armenian strategic nationalism in
transnational social fields ............................................................. 85
3.4 Armenians in Germany .......................................................................... 89
3.4.1 Immigration to Germany: a retrospective glance ......................... 90
3.4.2 German–Armenian associations: transnational practices ............. 93
Concluding remarks .................................................................................... 97
4 Peculiarities of Armenian Transnational Ties ........................................ 99
4.1 Configurations ....................................................................................... 99
4.2 Encounters: everyday practices in diverse realities ............................. 104
4.3 Social environment and connections: peculiarities of social ties ......... 112
4.4 Cross-border social ties: the role of contact recipients in
determining sustainability of ties ......................................................... 125
Concluding remarks .................................................................................. 130
5 Modes of Representation in Transnational Social Fields ..................... 133
5.1 Presenting own ways of being: self-identification ............................... 134
5.1.1 Ways of being and modes of self-identification ......................... 137
5.1.2 Emotional and pragmatic aspects of self-identification .............. 144
5.2 ‘Who are you?’: perceptions of the self ............................................... 146
5.3 Media as a mode of representation ...................................................... 150
5.3.1 Media and mediatized reality ..................................................... 150
5.3.2 General overview and thematic on German–Armenian
online social networks ................................................................ 154
5.3.3 Representation of transnational activity in online media:
example of two cases .................................................................. 157
Concluding remarks .................................................................................. 175
6 Components of Belonging ....................................................................... 179
6.1 Mother tongue and religion as symbols of Armenian belonging ......... 179
6.1.1 Armenian Church and Christianity ............................................. 181
6.1.2 Armenian language and writing ................................................. 190
6.2 Home, homeland, and belonging ......................................................... 197
6.2.1 Where the home is ...................................................................... 199
6.2.2 Discourse of return ..................................................................... 211
6.3 Manifestations of the sense of belonging ............................................ 213
6.4 Fluctuating transnationalism: continuity principle of
transnational ties .................................................................................. 218
6.4.1 Fluctuations of transnational ties and practices .......................... 219
Contents 9
6.4.2 Back-and-forth travels to the homeland ..................................... 222
Concluding remarks .................................................................................. 227
7 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 231
7.1 Studying transnational and diasporic social environments .................. 232
7.2 Multiple realities and representations in various configurations ......... 233
7.3 Strategic nationalism and fluctuating transnationalism:
modes of attachments to the land of origin .......................................... 236
7.4 General considerations and avenues for future research ...................... 238
Bibliography .................................................................................................. 243
1 Introduction
“I feel myself 100 % French, and at the same time 100 % Armenian.”
Charles Aznavour
These words are of Charles Aznavour, the famous French-Armenian singer,
songwriter, public figure, and a diplomat who describes himself as 100 % French
and, at the same time, 100 % Armenian. These words of Aznavour perfectly
indicate the complexity of the sense of belonging for migrants. People who re-
side in one country and consider it as home, but also claim another country to be
their homeland, can be simultaneously attached to both countries, which results
in dual sense of belonging and variations in self-identification. This research is
devoted to the study of migrants through the lens of transnationalism, which
means by revealing characteristic manifestations of transnationalism, cross-
border engagements and encounters, I will address issues of dual sense of be-
longing, various self-identifications, and correspondingly, different modes and
levels of attachments to the homeland.
Therefore, the purpose of this work is to reveal manifestations of transna-
tionalism, social practices, and ties (transnational and non-transnational) of
Armenians in Germany through the examples provided by participants in this
research. Taking this as a point of departure, this work touches upon the broader
issues of self-identification and sense of belonging, home and homeland, and
through this lens, refers to the social formation and reproduction of ties from
generation to generation. Furthermore, it considers how this social reproduction
influences and/or determines self-identification of younger generations. In the
attempt to uncover specificities of Armenian belonging and transnational at-
tachments in their various manifestations, I turn to the rich history of the nation’s
past, and identify the three most powerful collective memories which determine
not only the diasporic consciousness typical for Armenians, but also the
situational and fluctuating character of their transnational engagements and
activity.
© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2017
A. Chaloyan, Fluctuating Transnationalism,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-18826-9_1
12 Introduction
1.1 Transnationalism studies: state-of-the-art and the perspective of the
book1
Transnationalism, as a notion and as a field of study, has been widely rotating in
the sphere of migration research since the 1990s. It has captured the attention of
a broad community of social scientist, as it has emerged in answering the chal-
lenges that the diversity of contemporary migration flows has put before
scholars. Classical migration theories and approaches2 generally deal with issues
that migrants confront in the host country, thus focusing the attention on assimi-
lation, and integration or incorporation into the country of residence. In parallel,
issues and hardships that migrants encounter in the home country after they re-
turn have also been of interest to the migration scholarship. In other words, the
scholarly attention has been directed to the processes which happen either in the
country of residence or in the country of origin. These areas of research leave out
the needed attention to a very important point, which can be crucial in under-
standing and interpreting various issues and phenomena related to migration.
Therefore, since migration is not merely a linear process, what should be of par-
ticular interest to social researchers working in the field of migration, are the
linkages, connections, and movements taking place between the host and home
countries. In leaving temporarily or permanently for another country, migrants
do not break off every relation with their homeland. On account of migrant
border-spanning connections and movements of material and immaterial re-
sources between sending and receiving countries emerge specific over-territorial
fields within which all the processes with respect to both countries are con-
centrated. Transnationalism studies highlight the importance of these linkages
and back-and-forth movements.
The transnational approach, therefore, challenges the linear understanding
of migration processes by revealing that incorporation into a host country and
simultaneous maintenance of any kinds of ties, engagements, or attachments to
the homeland are not mutually exclusive.3 Not to consider these attachments
would mean to leave out important aspects of migration-related issues which can
play a considerable role in understanding and interpreting not only multiple
realities and simultaneous engagements of migrants, but also specificities of

1 A detailed literature review on transnationalism will follow in Chapter 2. For that reason, here I
focus only on the introduction of the key topic-related developments.
2 For a review, see, e.g. Borjas 1990; Massey et al. 1993; Castles 1998; Massey 1999; Castles and
Miller 2009
3 See, e.g. Basch, Glick Schiller and Szanton Blanc 1994; Glick Schiller and Fouron 1999, 2001,
2002; Glick Schiller 1999, 2005b; Levitt 2001, 2002, 2009; Portes et al. 1999, 2001, 2003; Vertovec
1999, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009a; Itzigsohn and Giorguli Saucedo 2002; Guarnizo, Portes and Haller
2003; Guarnizo and Smith 2006; Portes, Guarnizo and Landolt 2008; Laguerre 2009; Lee 2011