Cultural Studies paper by Márta Nyikos, Kata Nyikos
Indiana University

Left Behind: Formation and Evolution of Heritage Language and Cultural Identity in Isolation

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Growing up Hungarian in another country, with virtually no contact to other Hungarians until adulthood impacts how one’s identity is formed and evolves. This study explores, through interviews, how heritage language speakers views of themselves as Hungarians have evolved during their lifetimes.
Participants were asked to describe their initial and evolving conceptualizations of their ethnicity. They reported that challenges to their original conceptualizations of their own ethnicity came mainly through interactions with native and expatriate Hungarians, educational opportunities, and travel to Hungary. Encounters with unfamiliar social, educational, and political situations, views and institutions were some of the categories that emerged in the interviews. Coping strategies for dealing with feelings of alienation and confusion caused by the clash of expatriate cultural norms and expectations compared with reality will be explored and analyzed.



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