Book review Conversations of Intercultural Couples

What is it about?

Living in a mixed marriage can be seen as a constant sliding between two worlds. Such an intimate and close relationship calls into question the difficulty to balance deeply rooted beliefs on one’s own identities and those of someone with a different culture. Conversations of Intercultural Couples analyses emic perceptions and language learning experiences of migrants living in an intercultural marriage and dealing with a different linguistic and cultural environment.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Perhaps the main result of the study is the adoption of two terms to understand identity: situated and situational. While the term situated refers both to “an individual’s sense of self, often characterized as ‘stable’ and somewhat ‘fixed’” and to how the individual is ‘seen’ by others, the term situational identities is used when individuals “describe themselves or others as being or acting in a way with reference to particular circumstances or conditions.”

Perspectives