An Ethnoarchaeological Exploration of Identity Performances by Third Culture Kids

• In Event: New Temporal and Spatial Visual Environments

Abstract

This study examines the ways in which Third Culture Kids use entry spaces in their performance of identity. Ethnoarchaeology, a form of visual mapping of space and artifacts, allows an examination of how liminal space and objects are used as stage dressing in the presentation of self. This study of the college living spaces of Third Culture Kids seeks to increase understanding of the construction and performance of identity by those with globally mobile childhoods. Coupling ethnoarchaeology with participant observation and interviews reveals the ways that spaces and artifacts function in the presentation of self. For Third Culture Kids, whose identities are perpetually in-between or on the threshold, the entry space of “home” presents a unique connection of identity and performance of self in the physical world.

Author

• Amy Jung, Oregon State U