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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Marta Wilczek-WatsonORCiD
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This image presents a transnational (Polish-British), interfaith couple getting married in a Roman-Catholic church in Poland; following the Communion Rite, the Catholic bride kneels down to pray, while the agnostic groom remains standing. The photograph provides an apt illustration of my doctoral research in which I explore the negotiation of cultural identity in transnational families. Examining their video-taped celebratory events, I discuss how transnational couples use these highly ritualised interactions to discursively and semiotically manifest their subject positions and social aspirations. The study demonstrates how in the postmodern, increasingly mobile world in which transnational encounters proliferate, one is required to exhibit higher than ever reflexivity on their condition. As a result, formerly ‘straightforward’ and one-culture-specific rituals become complex metacultural performances during which transnationals continuously negotiate their socio-cultural alliances, reconstructing their various identities. Through their reflexive performances, transnationals create ‘third spaces’ (Bhabha, 1994) – hybrid zones for unique cultural meanings and self-identification.
Artist(s): Wilczek-Watson M
Publication type: Exhibition
Publication status: Published
Year: 2013
Venue: Images of Research 2013 Exhibition
Location: Cardiff University, Graduate College, Hadyn Ellis Building Atrium
Media of Output: Image and Image Description
URL: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/33687-images-of-research
Notes: Commendation.
