Self-Construction in Immigration - I-Positioning through Tensional Dialogues to Powerful Foreign and Native Voices

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Self-construction is shaped by interactions with socio-cultural environments.
• Emigration creates a unique context for examining self-perception and identity negotiation.
• Societal voices and social representations influence individual self-structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore proculturative semiotic dynamics in self-construction during emigration.
• To analyze the hierarchical organization of self-related voices and positions.
• To understand how native and foreign socio-cultural environments influence the self.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of semiotic dynamics and self-construction.
• Examination of hierarchical organization of voices and I-positions.
• Case study of a Georgian emigrant in Germany to illustrate self-transformations.

Main Results:

• Emigration ruptures native self-organization, introducing foreign signs and promoter signs.
• External voices can dominate, establishing asymmetric relations and influencing intra-psychological negotiations.
• The study highlights microgenetic experiences driving ontogenetic self-transformations.

Conclusions:

• Self-relations with the environment are not always symmetrically dialogical.
• Hierarchically ordered external meaning systems (objective culture) significantly impact the self in emigration.
• Understanding dynamic relations between self and environment is crucial for epigenetic development.