Today, I received a comment on one of my old ‘runawaysun’ blogs dating back to November 2005. At that time, I had been blogging about problems immigrants faced in a new country, and I had referred to Christine Yeh of Columbia University and four coping strategies that she had suggested immigrants can use to adjust to a new culture. The blog post was titled ‘Re-adjustment’.
The comment on that blog post today was from Christine Yeh, modestly explaining that the four types of strategies for acculturation belonged to John Berry, and not her. That, although she does discuss coping in her work on immigrants, she talks more about cultural approaches to coping that “often involve spirituality, using social support networks, family, peers, elders, etc, and methods of indigenous healing.”
Thank you, Christine, for your comments. It was a wonderful surprise. I’m delighted to know that you are continuing your work with ethnically and racially diverse people, and promoting a multicultural world for all of us to live in harmony.
My post on ‘Re-adjustment’ and Christine Yeh’s comment can be found here.
11 May 2007
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3 comments:
thank you for clarifying your previous blog about the immigrant experience and acculturation. i agree that this is an important topic and one that needs to extend beyond the theoretical to the everyday lived experience of immigrants. in my work, these distinctions are never so clear but. they intertwine and evolve. i think we need to consider immigration in the context of the often competing values, norms, identities. these tensions are not easily resolved, and should they be? the notion of a clear or distinct identity is a myth embedded in primarily Western, European American, constructions of being. thanks for you blog. i will continue to visit to keep the dialogue going...
will try to post a comment on my blog in the next few days...
Hello, and you are welcome, Christine. A clarification was indeed needed. After all, we both want to dispel myths, right?
The immigrant experience is an important topic, but very little is written or said about it from a non-Western point of view. All the constructs available for discussion seem to be Western. Of course, you know a great deal about it since it’s your area of specialisation. I’ve simply been an immigrant.
It’ll be great to keep our dialogue going. I feel email is a more direct channel of communication compared to visiting blogs for comments. You can reach me at therunawaysun@gmail.com.
I really like this blog. great post keep up the good work. I have bookmarked your site.
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