A phenomenological exploration of the lived experience of being ‘bi-rooted’ / ‘poly-rooted’, the reciprocal relations between those roots and their impact upon the sense of self

Hakim Dowek, Nancy (2019) A phenomenological exploration of the lived experience of being ‘bi-rooted’ / ‘poly-rooted’, the reciprocal relations between those roots and their impact upon the sense of self. DProf thesis, Middlesex University / New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. [Thesis]

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Abstract

This dissertation is a phenomenological exploration of the lived experience of being a bi-rooted migrant. An exploration of the experience of voluntarily relocating to a foreign country while keeping strong bonds and continuous contact with the country of origin, and of laying down new roots in the new country of residence; the experience of living with two sets of roots.

This research questions how, or whether, the multiple aspects of such a lived experience might be successfully transcended, simultaneously experienced, or might be seen as a constant internal split. It explores the differences in the characteristics, the texture and the quality of the roots that one develops in a country of origin and the changing characteristics of those roots laid down in the new country; exploring the dialogue and tension that may occur between them and their impact on the sense of Self. It discusses the existential framework that accompanies the relocation process into a foreign country; the anxiety that it engenders, and the opportunity to confront existential issues such as choices, responsibility, meaning, freedom and value, and the awakening of self-consciousness that may ensue.

The research concludes that rather than being experienced as a concentric concept with a central anchor around which the whole construct of Self occurs, living with double roots is experienced as an open and dynamic interconnected construct, continually becoming, and reflecting in the Self while simultaneously shaping a new perspective of life.

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