%0 Journal Article
%T Exploring Identity in Muslim Moroccan and Pakistani Immigrant Women
%A Cristina Giuliani
%A Semira Tagliabue
%J -
%D 2015
%R 10.5964/ejop.v11i1.844
%X This study presents a qualitative investigation of how Muslim Moroccan and Pakistani female immigrants living in Italy conceptualize their cultural identity. Ten Moroccan and 10 Pakistani (adolescent and adult) women were interviewed through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The interviewees expressed a strong attachment to their culture of origin: their religion is a crucial aspect of their identity, along with certain cultural rules and traditional values. At the same time, both Moroccan and Pakistani participants were ambivalent toward and experienced difficulties in developing a connection to the host country, although the two groups exhibit their lack of connection to their host country in different ways: Moroccans¡¯ self-representation is marked by a sense of foreignness and by a lack of an emotional connection with places where they are living while Pakistanis tend to express cultural distance and conflict with the host culture¡¯s values. For both the Moroccan and Pakistani groups, the challenge of integration and biculturalism seems demanding in the Italian context and is marked by a deep feeling of emptiness, a lack of an emotional bond with the new country, and a strong cultural ambivalence. Finally, narrative themes are articulated across four interrelated dimensions (cultural, religious, gendered, spatial), revealing interesting differences based on national origin and generation
%K [cultural identity
%K Pakistani and Moroccan immigration
%K Muslim women
%K qualitative analysis]
%U https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/844