“The screen has such sharp edges to hug”: The relational consequences of emigration in transnational South African emigrant families

Abstract

In our increasingly globalized world, families have become more transnational. This requires us to think differently about family relationships, including those between the elderly and other family members. Advances in communication technology now allow people to stay connected in new ways after migration, but families who emigrate and those they leave behind still have to deal with physical absence, and have to re-create emotional connection across a distance. They also have to reconsider caregiving relationships, especially with regard to those elderly family members excluded from the migratory nucleus and left behind in the country of origin.

This article considers relevant data from two qualitative research projects examining the impact of emigration on South African family life, especially on the elderly left behind, to illustrate how transnational relationships may be impacted and how family roles are affected. The results suggest that although communication technology is an important means for families to maintain relational ties across continents, the intimacy of physical closeness and touch cannot be easily replaced by the use of technology. The article proposes viewing “home” as a relational concept rather than as a fixed physical space, and that this should guide our understanding of transnational families.

Keywords:

• Transnationalism
• “home”
• emigration
• technology
• elderly
• transnational social work