From Kumasi to Vilafranca

7/24/2019 From Kumasi to Vilafranca

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From Kumasi to VilafrancaA project based on an interview with M ichael Boateng

El mn postcolonial anglfon

Carolina Ortega Palomo

Gemma M ontaner Soler

Carmina Morejudo OrtegaUniversitat de Barcelona, 2015


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1. Introduction

1.1 Ghana

To begin with, due to the fact that not only our project but our main protagonist of our project is

native to Ghana Moreover, some of the articles we used in order to work on our project also

deal with Ghana and the African migratory movement towards Catalonia we agreed that it

would be useful and enriching to do a brief research about Ghana

Ghana is considered to be a democratic republic located on the Gulf of Guinea, !est Africa "t

has over #$ million inhabitants, all of them belonging to different ethnic, linguistic and religious

groups "t is one of the major petroleum, natural gas, gold and diamond producers

1.1.2 Black African migration in Catalonia (Europe)

%owadays, the plentiful arrival of black immigrants coming from Africa is known as &black

African immigration' This phenomenon towards both (urope and Catalonia is commonly

considered to be something new and recent in these past decades )owever, we consider this

premise to be inaccurate As a matter of fact, the black African presence in Catalonia has its

origins in *++ when the African distribution took place and it is clearly seen as a

conse-uence of coloni.ation, theory that (dmundo /epa 0onaba highly highlights in his article

&1a immigraci2 negreafricana a Catalunya i (uropa3 visi2 socio4hist5rica'

This misunderstanding leads to a situation of disruption and social conflict which, influenced by

the previously mentioned colonial discourse, creates in black Africans a feeling of dependence

towards (urope According to 0onaba, !estern habits and costumes are usually unknown for

black African immigrants who immediately get fascinated by this new lifestyle As a

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conse-uence, (urope or in this case, Catalonia ends up being seen as an idealised land which

is considered the &standard' and not the &option' )ence, this emphasi.es the e6isting colonial

dichotomies such as3 us vs the other and white vs black

To conclude, this confusing social situation creates an addiction towards the (uropean lifestyle

which needs to end "t is important to stop considering black immigration as something that

needs to be blocked but as something to be understood 0y accepting this reality we would be

able to start working on fulfilling the total social, economic and cultural insertion, avoiding

trauma as much as possible

1.2 Aims

Therefore, bearing in mind what we commented in the previous section, the main aims for our

project are, on the one hand, to discuss if the young immigrants7 origin affects his daily life and

leisure8 on the other hand, to e6plore possible identity issues caused by this mi6ture of cultures to

which he is e6posed

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2. About the interview

2.1 Our choice on the participant

Michael 0oateng was our final choice because of several reasons 9irst, we were interested in

getting to know about Ghana, since we had not had the opportunity of learning about this country

at :niversity /econd, we thought that, since he is a teenager, his e6perience as an immigrant

would be interesting, especially, regarding how his integration in the school took place, the

process of making new friends, etc Third, we thought the fact that he came to /pain as a little

child to be of special relevance considering that the migratory e6perience is highly different as an

adult than as a child, we believed that a young7s person perspective could teach us different ways

of understanding migration

2.2 The process of creating the interview

"n order to successfully learn about African migration, we consulted three main articles3

(dmundo /epa7s &1a imigraci2 negreafricana a Catalunya i (uropa3 visi2 sociohist5rica'8 ;apa

/ow7s &Apro6imaci2 a la immigraci2 Africana a Catalunya'8 and Claudia ;edone7s &71o de

migrar me lo tomar


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ones in which we hoped to see his beliefs on the matter 9urthermore, we would record him so

that later we could e6amine in detail his answers

After the process of writing the interview was over, we set up a day to meet =ne of our group

members asked the -uestions to Michael, while the others recorded and wrote significant

comments he made The process of interviewing occurred without any incident )owever, it is

relevant to say that Michael asked us to interview him in Catalan, since it was easier for him to

e6plain what he wanted to say Thus, after interviewing him, we translated the recorded audio

into (nglish

=nce we had the recorded interview, we met in order to analyse and discuss his answers At first,

his comments fulfilled our e6pectations )owever, as we asked about identity and cultural issues

we reali.ed he had a different point of view of what we were e6pecting8 however, his opinion

about the topic seemed interesting to us anyway Thus, we decided that, based on what he had

said, we would change the focus of our project

Moreover, we also came across other sorts of problems /ometimes he did not fully understand

the more thoughtful -uestions and he answered something slightly different of what he was

asked Also, his shyness was an obstacle somehow, since he would not develop his answers for

too long %evertheless, once we gathered the information, we took into account his perspective

and we sorted out what he meant

2.3 The interview

9inally, after recording, translating and interpreting the interview, we typed it in order to include

it in this dossier

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Could ou introduce ourself! "a our name# birthplace# where ou live# education and

since when ou$re living in Catalonia.

My name is Michael 0oaeteng " was born in Ghana, in a village called umasi And "Bve been

living in Catalonia for * years now, in Dilafranca del ;enedEs "Bm doing 0at6illerat on

humanities

Than% ou. Our aim is to learn about cultural diversit and immigration. &o ou thin%

ou$re a good representative of Ghanaian migration to Catalonia! And do ou thin% there

are different reasons for which people migrate from Ghana to here!

Feah, well " think this depends on the family because there are economical reasons and family

reasons 9or e6ample, my parents had family here, so my father came first and then we did so

&o ou spea% an other language apart from Catalan and "panish! If ou do#

where do ou spea% it!

Feah, " also speak Ghanaian and a little bit of (nglish 0ut because itBs a co4official language,

they are co4official languages And " usually speak them with my parents only

'oth of them!

Fes

(hich one do ou spea% the most) Ghanaian or *nglish!

(Laughs)9or me, itBs Ghanaian


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Good. &o ou thin% being of specificall Ghanaian origin influences our was of having

fun! Are there an hobbies or activities that ou do because ou learnt them in Ghana! +or

instance# games# routines# stories...

%ot really, because " !hen " was little, " loved football8 but when " came here " became

interested in basketball and nowadays itBs the sport " do more often, and the one " like better

&o ou thin% belonging to both cultures influences our life! Are ou considering going

bac% to Ghana# mabe for professional reasons!

!ell, " donBt think it has an influence on me, because itBs been so long since " came here, " was a

child, so " hardly remember anything about it And, honestly, " donBt think "Bll go back, unless my

parents force me to, because " hardly know my family there, so

In what senses do ou thin% that being part of both cultures enriches and benefits ou!

)m, yeah, it benefits me because thanks to this fact " know more cultures, more languages, and "

believe this is very useful for everything in life

"urel. &o ou thin% that our culture at home is more li%e that of Ghana or that it is

mi,ed with the "panish-Catalan one!

"tBs mi6ed but my parentsB culture is more Ghanaian 0ut my brother and " have grown up here,

so our lives are settled here


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&o ou thin% belonging to two different cultures gives ou identit problems# or the

opposite! &o ou thin% ou$re defined b both!

%oH ;roblems, none 0ecause " consider myself just like everyone else, and " have really good

times " havenBt got any kind of problem

&o ou believe ou$re more rooted in one place than to the other! If so# what do ou thin%

determines it! abe friends# famil...!

Feah, " feel more rooted in Catalonia because " have grown up here and everything " know "Bve

discovered here

/our famil and friends...!

Fes

Good. This is an empt space for our comments and suggestions. &o ou thin% the

interview was complete! 0ave we tal%ed about everthing ou consider is important!

"t was really complete, " donBt have much to say

&o ou thin% it is important to wor% on multiculturalit! To learn about what it means#

and to discuss about immigration so as to avoid racism# discrimination...

Feah, it does help, because knowing about other cultures makes you understand their way of

thinking and acting

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3. 'ased on the interview) theoretical aspects

;arting from the contents of the interview, we selected the aspects that could be analysed in a

theoretical way 0ecause of the intervieweeBs response, and his apparent lack of attachment to the

motherland, we focused our analysis on the process of cultural assimilation he has undergone

3.1. Cultural assimilation

;arting from our intervieweeBs answers, we observed that he has undergone a remarkable process

of cultural assimilation, as he feels highly detached from the culture of his place of origin, and

has replaced it, almost completely, by the one of the place of destination

Although we consider this process to be partly natural because he has grown up and been

educated in Catalonia, we wonder whether avoiding the cultural connections to the place of

origin is healthy for the young migrant subject That is, Michael only identifies himself as

Ghanaian within the household, a place where he is observed only by his family IparentsJ who,

as he states, identify mostly as Ghanaian =n the contrary, when in social environments Iin

school, with friendships, during leisure timeJ he feels Bjust like everyone elseB Ireferring to

native Catalan youngstersJ This clear dichotomy prompts our ne6t -uestion3 is his cultural

identity determined by those who surround himK "f so, what is his actual cultural identityK

These -uestions lead us to /tuart )allBs second definition of cultural identity as &a matter of

BbecomingB as well as of BbeingB' I##J )e states that &we need to acknowledge ruptures and

discontinuities in the formation of identities' I##J That is, it would be naive and simplistic to

take into account MichaelBs original cultural background only and neglect the fact that he is

highly involved in the Catalan cultural environment

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Thus, we have come to draw two possible reasons for his identity dichotomy Ibetween that of the

private and that of the social environmentsJ that may or may not be true for our inteviewee but

we believe they are plausible and true for some cases of young migrants

=ur first hypothesis proposes that the young migrant subject, who has been bred, educated and

socialised in the destiny country, simply feels attached to that culture only but keeps some

aspects of the culture of origin in the household because of the emotional and respectful

connection with his relatives in other words, that he accepts sharing Ghanaian cultural traits at

home rather because he feels respect for his parentsB culture than because he feels it to be his

own

=ur second hypothesis proposes -uite the opposite The young migrant subject would actually

feel multicultural Ior even attached to the culture of origin onlyJ but, because heLshe has been

shaped by the destiny placeBs education, social conventions and way of thinking, heLshe has

internalised the prejudices, ideas of =therness and ostracism and tries to detach from the original

culture so as to avoid being seen and feeling as Bthe =therB

9inding out whether any of these suggested hypothesis is actually MichaelBs case we believe to

be outside the scope of our project "t would re-uire wider knowledge on the psychological

effects of migration, a closer relationship with the interviewee, and his willingness to accept and

e6plore possible identity issues Iwhich he denies having so farJ !e also believe that the fact that

he is so young can be an obstacle for further research in this aspect, because although the topic is

more interesting for us, he may not be mature enough to feel serene about it and eager to analyse

his own situation


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. 'ased on the interview) ractical aspects

=nce analysed the theorical aspects of the contents of the interview, we aimed at using them in a

practical way and at the same time learning something from the process Therefore, we e6plored

a new platform in which we could develop and spread the contents of this project

. 1. The creation of an online blog

4.1.1. Justification

/ince our first aim was to approach the issue of migration focusing on young immigrants, we

wanted to create an easy, popular way to access the contents of our research project so as to

spread the knowledge it may provide readers with Given that technology and social networks

are highly popular amongst the nowadays youth, we decided to create a blog online in which an

introduction to the most interesting contents of this research can be accessed

4.1.2. The process

The first step for creating the blog was to choose a blogging platform that fulfilled our

re-uirements !e wanted our blog to be of free access, easy to manage but mainly visually

attractive, so we chose the platform !eebly Ihttp3LLfromkumasitovilafrancaweeblycomJ

/econdly, the title we chose for the website is the one that gives name to this project3 rom

!umasi to "ilafranca Apart from symbolising the idea of movement that the migratory

e6perience implies, our purpose was to make it more personal to MichaelBs case by using the

name of the towns he has lived in, instead of a more general title Irom #hana to Cataloniawas

firstly considered, but it lacked the personal attachment we were looking forJ

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=nce the :N1 was settled, we decided on the design I/ee Anne6 $#J The characteristic element

of the site is a combination of two pictures3 one of the street market of umasi, and one of

DilafrancaBs The image is linked to the title as it parts from one photograph to the other, by

merging them in the middle The reason for selecting pictures of street markets is that they

provide a sense of the social sphere, which Michael has settled completely in Catalonia, although

he parts from the Ghanaian one, by melting them in the middle Ithe household, where both are

combinedJ Also, it can be observed how the two pictures do not differ so much from each other,

although each of them has their own peculiarities, both markets Iie both social spheresJ are

established in the same way, and thus their fusion works perfectly

4.1.$. The results

The results of the creation of a website have been very satisfactory, as we have achieved our

goals of easy accessing and spreading knowledge about such a relevant topic in nowadays world

The site is visually attractive I/ee Anne6 $#J and contains the most relevant elements of our

project, which are developed in depth in this dossier

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. Conclusions

To conclude our research, we wanted to make a few comments regarding our e6perience while

carrying out this project To begin with, the articles chosen were very useful in providing

background information about young immigration, destiny and work opportunities, adaptation to

the (uropean lifestyle, and cultural identity Thanks to these articles, we were able to create a

proper interview in which we tackle all the topics as regards our aims

)owever, it is relevant to take into account that the project had a turning point !hile doing the

interview our e6pectations were not achieved successfully because our interviewee had a

different attitude and e6perience than we had e6pected %evertheless, we were able to reconduct

the approach of our project and still maintain the topic7s relevance Therefore, we decided to

focus on the processes of assimilation and how our interviewee7s culture differs at home and in

the social environment Also, we were able to e6plore new ways of conveying information, for

instance, our blog online )ence, the content and the format of the project match successfully

Thanks to this project, we have deeply e6plored some issues dealt in class as well as current

social aspects !e have learnt more about Ghana7s background, the conditions of immigration

and the process of interviewing Team work was also crucial for us to achieve all the goals of this

project

!e e6pect that there is further research in the topic of young people who migrated in their

childhood and grew up in the destiny country !e believe the psychological dimension of the

migratory act is as important as the social one, and that although some of its aspects can be

theorised, we ought not to neglect its sentimental and personal conse-uences

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4. 'ibliograph

0onaba, (dmundo /epa O1a immigraci2 negreafricana a Catalunya i (uropa3 visi2

sociohist5ricaO%e&ista catalana 'e sociologaI*+J3 $*4$@

)all, /tuart OCultural identity and diasporaO 'entit*+ Communit*, Culture, -ifference. (d

Ponathan Nutherford 1ondon3 1awrenceQ!ishart, * ###4?$ ;rint

;edone, Claudia O71o de migrar me lo tomar


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5. Anne,

5.1. "ummaries of the consulted articles

.1.1. 1a immigraci2 negreafricana a Catalunya i (uropa3 visi2 sociohist5rica /* E'mun'o 0epa

Bona/a

This article deals with the issue of the african immigration towards (urope and Catalonia The

sociologist (dmundo /epa 0onaba discusses several aspects throughtout the article, such as the

truth of the origins of this massive migration and the possible outcomes for the social conflics

that are emerging as a conse-uence of it According to 0onaba, this is directly linked to colonial

discourses and, therefore, the effects of coloni.ation, which are considered to be the main cause

of the African dependence towards the white world which is seen as a utopic role model Thus,

this dependence, creates an addiction towards anything related to the (uropean lifestyle that only

widens the gap between the rich and the poor As a conclusion, 0onaba gets to the point that

there is no possible stoping the African migration towards (urope L Catalonia, hence, the real

outcome would be to work together in order to achieve a less traumatic both for Africans and

for Catalans L (uropeans social, economic and educational insertion

.1.2. &1o de migrar me lo tomar


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of children and teenagers involved in these new migratory conte6ts is high and reinforced by the

Administration8 for instance, by giving a criminalised image of the 1atino youth

;edone e6plores how immigrant youngsters have reinforced their supra4national, national and

even regional gathering as a mechanism for identification and solidarity, differing themselves

from their autochthonous contemporaries

9urthermore, ;edone states that the &intercultural education' provided by the educational system

does nothing but reinforce the folklorising ideas about the places of origin of this immigrant

youth, highlighting the dichotomy between &us' and &others' /he concludes that this is highly

linked to the educational deficiencies of immigrant offspring

"n addition, and taking other researches as a basis, ;edone states that these immigrant teenagers

remain invisible inside the migratory project of their families, and this fact complicates the

possibility to approach their way of constructing their multiple identifications /he emphasises

the fact that those identifications are highly heterogenic, plural and fluctuating depending on the

information they get from the parents, the amount of time in which they have been immersed in

the migratory project of their families, as well as the ways of reagrupation carried out by their

parents and the everyday life in the transnational conte6t

(6emplified by fragments of interviews to migrant teenagers and mothers, ;edone illustrates

how some of these youngsters prefer to go back to their place of origin, as well as how they

consider social education options Iprograms of professional trainingJ andLor work /he states that

the diversity of these considered options is inherently linked to their social class

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Claudia ;edone concludes that migrant families have transformed their structures, defined roles

and built strategies to manage their everyday life in transnational conte6ts Also, she defends that

stigmatising discourses have prevailed in these changes and transformations, and that they have

been determined by the conditions found in the place of destination as well To finish, she states

that although they are obstructed by those reinforced symbolic frontiers, the sons and daughters

of immigrant origin must construct their own and singular sense of belonging

.1.$. Apro6imaci2 a la "mmigraci2 Africana a Catalunya/* apa 0o

;apa /owBs article focuses mainly, as the title suggests, on African migration to Catalonia "t

e6plores the causes of such migration, the years when it took place, the effect it had on

Catalonia, the places where Africans reside and the increase of such migration

9ocusing mainly on /ubsaharian immigration, ;apa /ow claims that probably from the eighties

onwards, when several economic crises occurred and poverty in such countries increased,

African migration became a reality %ow in Catalonia, he claims, it is a reality )e argues that

probably the AfricansB idea in the first place was to move to %orthern and Central (urope, in

countries such as Great 0ritain or 9rance )owever, since immigration laws in those countries

became harder, many migrants decided to stay in Catalonia as they found jobs and could afford

living in the country As a conse-uence of the immigration, African communities were created all

over the Catalan territory

;apa /ow also e6plores the origins of African immigrants The migrants from the eighties, he

claims, mostly came from central and occidental African countries such as Congo, %igeria, "vory

Coast, /enegal, etc )owever, it has been proved that lately African immigrants come from

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countries in %orthern Africa such as Morroco %evertheless, /ow claims that the African

community which has most presence in Catalonia comes from /enegal

)e also e6plores where in Catalonia the migrants settle 9ollowing some statistics, he believes

the region preferred by Africans is 0arcelonaBs province "t is followed by GironaBs province,

1leida and finally Tarragona )e also argues that in some regions such as Alt ;enedEs, African

migration is almost non e6isting

)is article also focuses on the AfricansB jobs in Catalonia )e has observed that in the

0arcelonaBs surroundings, they can have almost any kind of job "n Girona, /ow claims that they

tend to work in the tertiary sector doing jobs such as owning a supermarket "n 1leida and

Tarragona, Africans tend to work in touristic places =ne of their most common jobs is working

in hotels

9inally, /ow e6plores the increase in African migration /ince the beginning of the twenty4first

century, /ow observes that the African population has increased That is so mainly because wives

and children, who still remained in the country, now have moved to Catalonia to reunite and start

over with the family

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5.2 "creenshots of the blog From Kumasi to Vilafranca

The home page ofrom !umasi to "ilafranca

The bibliography page and the full dropdown menu

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