Aleksandra GąciarekIdentitätsentwicklung vs. Identitätskrise in der fremdkulturellen Umgebung

About this book deutschenglish

The aim of this thesis is to analyse if the Syrian immigrants who have emigrated to Germany since the beginning of the migration crisis in 2015 have adapted to German culture to such an extent that this culture has become part of their own identity, or whether emigration has caused an identity crisis generated by a confrontation with the foreign cultural environment.

The thesis contains a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical aspects begin with a discussion of the concept of culture. Selected cultural models are presented, such as the Cultural Onion Model of G. Hofstede. A central role is taken by man as the creator of culture. On this basis, enculturation and the acculturation process according to J. W. Berry are explained. Selected perspectives and aspects of language are discussed.

Two concepts of the origin of language are analysed: the universalism of N. Chomsky and the linguistic relativism with regard to the theoretical approaches of J. G. Herder, W. von Humboldt, F. Boas, E. Sapir and B. L. Whorf. Bilingualism and multilingualism are thematised and they are also discussed from the perspective of migration.

There is a presentation of psychological and sociological identity theories by E. H. Erikson, J. Piaget, G. H. Mead, L. Krappmann and K. Hurrelmann. The theoretical section concludes with a description of different types of identity: linguistic, social, cultural, national, foreign and one’s own identity.

The empirical part of the thesis presents an empirical study (case study) that was realised among Syrian migrants in Germany in 2022. The aim of the case study is to analyse the extent to which the process of growing into German culture and the process of acquisition of the German language took place among the case study participants.

The analysis of the interviews with the Syrian migrants made it possible to find an answer to the question of how the adaptation to the foreign culture and the acquisition of the German language determine the development of the identity of the Syrian migrants.