The present study investigates the intersectionality between cultural identity, place attachment, English-language education, and imagination of migration in Bandar Anzali, Iran. The study employs a qualitative comparative approach, which involves integrating migration scholarship with student essays, interviews, and fieldwork carried out within a local educational setting. Using key ideas from postcolonial and narrative theories, especially the Third Space by Homi Bhabha, the notion of migratory imagination suggested by Arjun Appadurai, and the narrative identity theory by Paul Ricoeur, the paper analyzes how students create meaning around concepts such as belonging, migration, and imagination of the future. The analysis has revealed that the local adolescents view English language not just as a subject matter studied at school, but also as a symbolical threshold linking their current lives to opportunities and potential migration in the future. Additionally, the results have shown how conditional forms of belonging and dual identity are constructed in the context of strong ties with the local area alongside an uncertain outlook for social, academic, and economic futures. Finally, by comparing the local case studies with selected migration literature, the paper reveals the relevance of the novels to the lived experiences of adolescents in a migration-prone area.
The present study investigates the intersectionality between cultural identity, place attachment, English-language education, and imagination of migration in Bandar Anzali, Iran. The study employs a qualitative comparative approach, which involves integrating migration scholarship with student essays, interviews, and fieldwork carried out within a local educational setting. Using key ideas from postcolonial and narrative theories, especially the Third Space by Homi Bhabha, the notion of migratory imagination suggested by Arjun Appadurai, and the narrative identity theory by Paul Ricoeur, the paper analyzes how students create meaning around concepts such as belonging, migration, and imagination of the future. The analysis has revealed that the local adolescents view English language not just as a subject matter studied at school, but also as a symbolical threshold linking their current lives to opportunities and potential migration in the future. Additionally, the results have shown how conditional forms of belonging and dual identity are constructed in the context of strong ties with the local area alongside an uncertain outlook for social, academic, and economic futures. Finally, by comparing the local case studies with selected migration literature, the paper reveals the relevance of the novels to the lived experiences of adolescents in a migration-prone area.
