Constructing the Reality of the Immigrant Life

Abstract

This studyfocuses on one discursive construction of social reality, the construction of self-identity. To survive in a new culture, immigrants must come to know the “facts” and the ethos of the society. That knowledge, however, is not passively absorbed by the people, but is at least in part constructed by them from the information verbally transmitted through conversations. Four discourses among immigrants were analyzed to point out important aspects of the participants’ understanding of their New World, as well as their own place in it. Optimistic outlookfor the future, determination, language competency, and racial and ethnic problems were prominent. Tenets of the social constructionist perspective and the Hermeneutic-Dialectic method are also outlined.

Key Words:

• immigrant identity
• construction and reality
• New World