What Village Are You From? An Archaeology of Objects and Identity in the Australian Lebanese Community.
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This thesis intends to study the practices of material culture within an Australian ethnic community.The focus will be placed on objects within the household, in order to examine whether or not material culture plays a role in constructing an ethnic identity for three generations of Lebanese migrants living in Australia.To achieve this, six participants from my immediate family were interviewed while the objects within their homes were catalogued.A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed, in order to consider and understand the importance and meaning people attach to objects in the domestic sphere.Data from the three generations was then compared.The results yield a large variety of objects found within each households ranging from cooking and drinking utensils to decorative, religious and musical ornaments.Spatial analyses also revealed that a large portion of the objects were located in communal areas such as the kitchen, living and dining room.The results from the three generations indicated that the relationship and practices of material culture had changed throughout the generations.There was a shift from consolidating tangible practices of ethnicity in the form of objects, to intangible practices of language, food, traditions and religion.Chapter 4: Methodology: The research design and methodology is explained as well as the approaches used for the collection of data.Chapter 5: Results Part I: First Generation: This chapter will present the results taken from the first generation's object cataloguing, interviews and spatial analysis.Focus will be placed on four objects and their significance.Chapter 6: Results Part II: Second Generation: This chapter will introduce the results taken from the second generation's data collection, with particular attention paid to examining the significance of four objects.Chapter 7: Results Part III: Third Generation: This chapter will present the findings from the third generation's data collection.Additionally, the importance of four specific objects found in the process of data collection will be explored. Chapter 8: Discussion and Conclusions:In this final chapter, the data and resultscollected from each generational study will be compared.The aims of the thesis will be reiterated and answered, and overall concluding statements will be made.Appendices: This section will contain all the transcripts, object cataloguing tables and any additional raw data collected.Mariam: So I wanted to ask you before, all the pictures you have in the house, you have them for display purposes so people can see them?Yes, everyone can see them!Mariam: and the coffee cups and
Author: Mariam Vivienne Abboud
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W325816060