'Thank God, I'm back!': (Re)defining the nation as a homely place in relation to journeys abroad

Skey, Michael (2011) 'Thank God, I'm back!': (Re)defining the nation as a homely place in relation to journeys abroad. Journal of Cultural Geography, 28 (2). pp. 233-252. ISSN 1940-6320

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Abstract

Growing individual mobility has been a key element in the re-evaluation of the links between (national) place and identity in what has been labelled a'borderless world'. In this paper, an alternative perspective is provided by exploring the ways in which discussions around travel are used to redefine the nation as a bounded, familiar and homely place. In the first section, a number of key themes in the wider literature on ‘home’ are identified and applied to the nation, notably the idea that ‘homely spaces’ are imagined and experienced in relation to journeys elsewhere. This idea is then evidenced by a range of empirical data, which shows how individuals are often made aware of their own national identity and allegiances, when negotiating encounters with other people and cultural forms. In discussing the discomfort and uncertainty they experience in ‘foreign’ locales, the national home is defined as a secure base from which to proceed and, most importantly, to return. Interestingly, these types of views were expressed by a range of social actors, ranging from college students, who travelled widely and with great enthusiasm, to retired people, who were increasingly restricted in their ability to visit foreign locales.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Political, Social and International Studies (former - to 2014)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Media@uea (former - to 2017) Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Cultural Politics, Communications & Media
Depositing User:	Katherine Humphries
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2012 08:20
Last Modified:	06 Sep 2023 09:32
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/39689
DOI:	10.1080/08873631.2011.583437

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