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Forming a Mixed Family Culture: In Search of Home and Friends

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Mixed Family Life in the UK

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life ((PSFL))

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Abstract

The fifth and final findings chapter explores the formation of a mixed family culture. In a somewhat similar manner to the myth that children in interlingual families “naturally and spontaneously” become bilingual (Yamamoto 2001, p1), neither do children in mixed families “naturally and spontaneously” become bicultural. Instead, becoming bicultural is a consequence of much “invisible work” (Okita 2002) and negotiation on the part of the parents, along with the mixed children themselves, and often with the support of extended family. In this chapter, two areas that  influence family life are explored: 1) the search for home, from the parents’ migration experiences to the family’s present residential location, and 2) the search for friends in their local community, both individually and as a family. Analyses of the data suggest that both searches inevitably result in more opportunities for negotiation in the mixed families; nonetheless, perhaps it is through such experiences that the mixed families begin to find their own unique way of doing family. 

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    M. Nakamura Lopez

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Nakamura Lopez, M. (2017). Forming a Mixed Family Culture: In Search of Home and Friends. In: Mixed Family Life in the UK . Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Family and Intimate Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57756-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57756-2_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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