The broad phenomenon of acculturation as a process of adjusting one’s values, beliefs, and habits according to the socio-cultural environment of an individual is an extremely complex social issue. Primarily, there is currently no clear line between acquiring new customs and habits in order to feel safe and comfortable within the given social context and sacrificing one’s culture and heritage in order to “blend in” with the rest of society. The problem is particularly relevant among refugees and asylee immigrants due to the fact that their immigration is directly correlated with a challenging socio-political situation that threatens their well-being and life back at home. Thus, there is no possibility to homogeneously claim that the decision to abandon one’s native land is weighted and voluntary among asylees and refugees. In such a context, it would be reasonable to question the extent to which people should be willing to embrace new cultures and environments, as well as the level of emotional stability required to voluntarily accumulate to such an environment.
One of the most widespread concepts associated with immigration is the concept of nostalgia. While people are generally familiar with the notion, there currently exists a dissonance in terms of the connotative meaning behind it. Thus, as outlined in the study by Smeekes and Jetten (2019), the term “nostalgia” was first coined by Johannes Hofer, a Swiss scholar, in order to label a medical condition of extreme homesickness followed by anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Since then, nostalgia has been long considered as one’s physically hazardous state of longing for home. According to Smeekes and Jetten (2019), the issue of sentiment and nostalgia is now extremely widespread across the globe due to high rates of globalization and mobility followed by confusion, associating nostalgia with an inherently negative feeling. Sedikides and Wildschut (2019), on the other hand, argue that nostalgia as a social phenomenon may benefit the ingroup of immigrants in terms of self-evaluation, empathy, and mutual support. Thus, the idea of “fighting” nostalgia in this context stands for coping with homesickness and anxiety related to living abroad for a long time.
The methods of dealing with homesickness are diverse for every group yet remain closely associated with preserving one’s cultural attributes such as clothing, language or dialect, music, popular culture, and dancing. However, once these aspects are concerned, scholars and the general population mostly associate them with the opportunity to raise cultural awareness and preserve one’s ethnic identity rather than perceive them as a coping mechanism for homesickness. As a result, few researchers placed emphasis on the significance of dancing and movement as a therapeutical means of addressing nostalgia.
However, there were several significant studies marking the relevance of moving and dancing psychotherapy among refugees and asylees. First, the phenomenological research by Verreault (2017) dwelled on the notion of Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) as a method of alleviating stress, building resilience, and connecting with other ingroup members in female refugees. Fundamentally, DMT stands for the process of using “movement to further an individual’s emotional, cognitive and physical functioning” (Verreault, 2017, p. 120). In the course of four interventions, the scholar introduced four DMT sessions as an accompanying tool for resilience-building psychological therapy for asylum seekers and refugees. The results of such an intervention demonstrated that asylees benefited from enhancing their sense of worth, self-regulation, belonging to a community, and cultural identity celebration. Hence, it became evident that “DMT can complement a resilience-oriented framework, provide group support, create a safe space and promote resource building for asylum seekers and refugees” (Verreault, 2017, p. 131). In other words, the opportunity to dance, especially as far as culturally significant dances are concerned, allows asylees to let go of homesickness by physically experiencing their cultural identity and celebrate their homeland’s ethnic heritage.
Another significant study was conducted by Cantrick et al. in 2018, focusing on the body as a primary instrument of dealing with self-identity crisis and oppression. Thus, according to Cantrick et al. (2018), the human body serves as a manifestation of a person’s background and history, as facial cues, skin color, the peculiarities of one’s physique, and garments reflect one’s historical and ethnic heritage. As a result, one’s movement and physical expression of emotion through dance are able to mirror both explicit and implicit details of culture and ethnicity, as the bode tends to be tenser and confined as a result of oppression, insecurity, an undermined sense of self-worth due to implicit socio-cultural discrimination. Once a person is able to feel a proper connection within her body with the help of a dance, they tend to feel more confident and less oppressed (Cantrick et al., 2018). Essentially, dancing obtains a power of cultural identity embodiment through movement, which makes people undergoing DMT more self-aware and resistant to external pressure.
Indeed, while dancing, people have the ability to take over control over their bodies and move according to their desires and rhythm. In such a way, there are not susceptible to external pressure, as they are in charge of their physical movements. Hence, in some way, similar cognitive processes happen in people’s minds when they think of adjusting to the new environment. The literal freedom of movement during a dance helps people understand their freedom to express their ethnic affiliation even when they are physically unable to return to their homeland. As Cantrick et al. (2018) state, there is a significant correlation between DMT and cultural empowerment. In order to enjoy the dance, a person is to combine awareness of their body and the power to move or let go of the pressure. A similar cognitive process is noted during acculturation, as it is of paramount importance to remain aware of one’s heritage and have the power to move on while adjusting to a new environment.
When speaking of asylees and refugees, the issue of nostalgia should be addressed through the lens of people’s depression, and anxiety caused not only by homesickness but by the lack of acceptance in a new country. As a result, it would be reasonable to assume that given the circumstances, asylees will not have to battle nostalgia once their ethnic identity is welcomed elsewhere. Indeed, there is no direct correlation between one’s geographical location and sense of belonging, as it is the culture and customs that make one’s homeland special. Dance, being physically freeing, aesthetically pleasing, and culturally significant at the same time, helps immigrants feel more confident and positive about their future outside their homeland, as they realize they are not deprived of their ethnic heritage. For this reason, it is critical to ensure that asylees have a safe space of self-reflection, connection to the ingroup, and embodiment of their culture.
References
Cantrick, M., Anderson, T., Leighton, L. B., & Warning, M. (2018). Embodying activism: Reconciling injustice through dance/movement therapy.American Journal of Dance Therapy, 40(2), 191-201. Web.
Sedikides, C., & Wildschut, T. (2019). The sociality of personal and collective nostalgia.European Review of Social Psychology, 30(1), 123-173. Web.
Smeekes, A., & Jetten, J. (2019). Longing for one’s home country: National nostalgia and acculturation among immigrants and natives.International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 69, 131-150. Web.
Verreault, K. (2017). Dance/movement therapy and resilience building with female asylum seekers and refugees: A phenomenological practice based research. Intervention, 15(2), 120-135.