Weakening of the territory’s link, but persistence of the territorial identities
In order to understand the Kabyle collectives’ dynamics on the Internet, we need to look at the sociology of immigration. The Sayad (1977) showed that the first two generations of Kabyle immigrants in France were strongly connected with their country of origin. The relation with the territory of Algeria, Kabylia and more specifically with the village of origin was mainly characterized by the hope and the project of the grand return (Sayad, 1977). This visceral link with the territory is particularly illustrated by the funeral rite of repatriating deceased bodies to the village. These practices lead to a whole village organization within the immigrant community …show more content…
Several ethnic groups such as travelers, nomads, and the Jewish community have developed collective identities away from any geographical territoriality. We can draw the same conclusion in the case of the Kabyle immigration in France. The attachment to the territory serves as a link, which cemented the group in spite of the expatriation. The migrant workers have organized themselves for a long time through general assemblies associated with the village, which they held within the very space of the immigration. Thus, as a first identity reference for the Kabyle, the village structure was extended to the group way beyond its geographical borders. The disjointing of the village territory showed no effect on the relationship of the immigrant with this village territorial identity. Obviously, it is not so much the geographical boundaries of the village that strengthen that link as it is the representation of this affiliation, which is founded more on symbolism, imagination, and cultural …show more content…
Online interactions, which transcend all physical and geographical boundaries, extend in the cultural space to reach out to the ‘children’ of the village independently of their place of residence. The visceral relation which the Kabyles maintain with their village is being neglected, as it is shown by a progressive abandonment of practices of certain rituals such as the repatriation of the funeral remains to the village. The fact remains that the evocation of this territorial identity finds a truly renewed interest on the internet network. The online exchanges intensely accelerated the contact between these scattered villagers to the point where expatriates discuss online their ancestry or the history of their village with supporting digital
In order to understand the Kabyle collectives’ dynamics on the Internet, we need to look at the sociology of immigration. The Sayad (1977) showed that the first two generations of Kabyle immigrants in France were strongly connected with their country of origin. The relation with the territory of Algeria, Kabylia and more specifically with the village of origin was mainly characterized by the hope and the project of the grand return (Sayad, 1977). This visceral link with the territory is particularly illustrated by the funeral rite of repatriating deceased bodies to the village. These practices lead to a whole village organization within the immigrant community …show more content…
Several ethnic groups such as travelers, nomads, and the Jewish community have developed collective identities away from any geographical territoriality. We can draw the same conclusion in the case of the Kabyle immigration in France. The attachment to the territory serves as a link, which cemented the group in spite of the expatriation. The migrant workers have organized themselves for a long time through general assemblies associated with the village, which they held within the very space of the immigration. Thus, as a first identity reference for the Kabyle, the village structure was extended to the group way beyond its geographical borders. The disjointing of the village territory showed no effect on the relationship of the immigrant with this village territorial identity. Obviously, it is not so much the geographical boundaries of the village that strengthen that link as it is the representation of this affiliation, which is founded more on symbolism, imagination, and cultural …show more content…
Online interactions, which transcend all physical and geographical boundaries, extend in the cultural space to reach out to the ‘children’ of the village independently of their place of residence. The visceral relation which the Kabyles maintain with their village is being neglected, as it is shown by a progressive abandonment of practices of certain rituals such as the repatriation of the funeral remains to the village. The fact remains that the evocation of this territorial identity finds a truly renewed interest on the internet network. The online exchanges intensely accelerated the contact between these scattered villagers to the point where expatriates discuss online their ancestry or the history of their village with supporting digital