Pastures New or Old? Migration, Narrative and Change

Authors

  • Caroline Oliver University of Cambridge

Keywords:

ageing, international retirement, migration, narrative

Abstract

The paper explores how motifs of continuity and
change are used to narrate the migration process and in so
doing, help construct ageing identities. Based on research with
international retired migrants in Spain, the article shows how
older travellers emphasize the transformational aspects asso-
ciated with movement. However, the research reveals how
underneath this narrative of change, there is widespread evi-
dence of continuity with former ways of life. This simultaneous
emphasis on change and continuity must be understood as
related to the life course of migrants and the wider paradoxes
in contemporary cultural expectations of ageing. Narratives of
change and continuity become a convenient shorthand through
which the complex emotional adjustments wrought by ageing
can be expressed. They allow for retired migrants to claim "new"
identities, yet still have at hand the familiar and necessary
resources required to manage the challenges presented by grow-
ing older away from "home."

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Published

2022-03-11

How to Cite

Oliver, C. (2022). Pastures New or Old? Migration, Narrative and Change. Anthropologica, 53(1), 67–77. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/986

Issue

Vol. 53 No. 1 (2011): Changes of Place: Interrogating the Continuities and Disjunctures of Movement

Section

Thematic Section:

License

Copyright (c) 2011 Caroline Oliver

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