| Although much work has been done on the attempts of migrants to successfully settle in a new land and the struggles they face in this process, academicians have not really looked at this issue from a communication standpoint.;With an endeavor to address these gaps in diasporic communication and identity literature, the goal of this dissertation is primarily to explore how the personal, social, and cultural identities of Indian-Gujarati diasporic women are communicated (verbally, non-verbally and symbolically) and passed on to the next generation.;In migratory communities, the development of identity is often dependent upon biological, interpersonal, organizational, societal and cultural resources. This study examines processes of adaptation and assimilation, keeping in mind, the remarkably dense ties of the Gujarati community with its kinship networks and the ability to maintain cultural values in a foreign land.;Discussing the identity process of Gujarati immigrants in the USA in general and of Gujarati women in particular, the research is based on two premises. One, identity is dynamic and ever-changing. Second, mundane aspects of Gujarati life are self-expressive. For instance, what Gujaratis eat, what they wear, what they do in their leisure time and who and how they interact with are self-congruous.;Via in-depth interviews with first-generation Gujarati women in the US, the following questions are explored: How do diasporic Gujaratis communicate to maintain their identities successfully in face of pressures from the outside society to assimilate? What are the various communication-based defense-mechanisms that operate as their sense of security in alien settings? How do they communicate their identities? What are the struggles they face as they attempt to communicate these identities to the next generation?;The analytical thrust of this research is to understand the various mechanisms and value systems that shape the communication behavior of first-generation Gujarati women in private and public realms. |
