Framing Post-Relocation Transitioning in Oral Histories and Policies from 1980-2018 in the Netherlands

Framing Post-Relocation Transitioning in

Oral Histories and Policies from

1980-2018 in the Netherlands

Hilda Heyde

University of Amsterdam (UvA)

MA Identity & Integration, European Studies 25-06-2020

H.A.C. Heyde, MA 12397180

hilda.heyde@student.uva.nl Supervisor: dr. Guido Snel

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BSTRACT

Human relocation is a phenomenon that is as old as humanity, making re-negotiating, navigating new realities, and rebuilding lives an inevitable development with impactful consequences for both society and the people relocating. Transitioning from place to place leads to people looking for ways to build a life in the new place, which entails experiences that are often problematised in formal government policies. The current thesis aims to connect the framing and meaning of transition through life stories to the discourse in policy texts on post-relocation. To develop a more insightful and inclusive discourse on this topic,

discovering discrepancies or parallels on transition or continuance in cases of post-relocation forms the focus. This is formulated in the following research question: How do the life stories of people experiencing the process of posts-relocation reflect the framing and meaning of transition and how has the discourse of post-migration in the Netherlands changed since the 1980s; and how are these related? This question is answered through the analysis of policy texts and the examination of the meaning of transition in the oral histories of the Ongekend

Bijzonder project that ran in four cities in the Netherlands, covering stories from people

relocating to the Netherlands since the 1980s.

Keywords: Oral History, Transition, Relocation, Post-Migration Policy

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ONTENTS

1.1.2. Policies for the Posts-Relocation Process in the Netherlands ... 12

2. Online Oral Histories on Transition and Relocation in Urban Areas ... 13

2.1. Theory on Oral Histories, Memory, Place and Transition ... 13

2.1.1. Critical Analysis of Oral Histories ... 14

2.1.2. Memory in Oral Histories ... 15

2.1.3. The Memory of Transition ... 16

2.1.4. Place and Space, and a Sense of Belonging? ... 19

2.2. Storytelling on Post-Relocation and Transition ... 24

2.2.1. Experiences of Transition & Continuance ... 24

2.2.2. The Role of Place ... 36

2.2.3. Dynamics of Interaction ... 42

3. The History of Framing and Defining Transition after Relocation within Dutch “Post-Migration” Policies ... 47

3.1. The Conceptualisation of Post-Migration Transition ... 47

3.1.1. Policy Foci for Post-Migration ... 48

3.1.2. More Actors in Post-Migration Processes ... 48

3.1.3. Ideas, Beliefs and Assumptions ... 49

3.1.4. Problematic Group-Thinking in Post-Relocation Policies ... 50

3.1.5. Methodological Nationalism ... 52

3.2. Post-Migration Policy Models in the Netherlands ... 53

3.2.1. Before Explicit Policies on Post-Migration ... 54

3.2.2. Multiculturalism through Ethnic Minorities Policy ... 54

3.2.3. First Policies for ‘Integration’ ... 59

3.2.4. Later Policies for ‘Integration’ ... 62

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4. Discussion ... 73

4.1. Framing of Transition in Oral Histories and Policies ... 73

4.2. Lived Experiences vs. Motivations for Targeting ... 75

4.3. The role of Place & Time in Transition ... 76

6. Conclusion ... 78

Primary Sources ... 80

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BBREVIATIONS

EC : European Community EU : European Union

OALT: Onderwijs in Allochtone Levende Talen (Education in Allochtonous Living Languages)

OETC: Onderwijs in Eigen Taal en Cultuur (Education in Own Language and Culture) SCP : Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau (Socio-Cultural Planning Office)

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1.

I

NTRODUCTION

Human relocation is a phenomenon that is as old as humanity, making re-negotiating, navigating new realities, and rebuilding lives an inevitable development with impactful consequences for both society and the people relocating. Transitioning from place to place leads to people looking for ways to build a life in the new place, which entails experiences that are often problematised in formal government policies.

In history, the perspective of the people relocating is underexposed to the perspective of a majority in society. In writing history, there are different “perspectives of power” that impact which narratives are presented, which is often a single narrative (Craith, 2012, p. 38). “The danger of a single story”, as writer Chimamanda Adichie (2009) identified, is best

countered with other, differing narratives. Through literary works on relocation or negotiating realities and identities, these narratives contribute to comprehensive history and reflection on the post-relocation process. Writers such as Kader Abdolah and Hafid Bouazza address the consequences and implications of migration to the Netherlands. Their work has, therefore, been subject to research in literary studies (Bel, 2011). As a source of literature, oral history projects such as Ongekend Bijzonder (2017d) aim to present differing narratives as a

contribution to comprehensive history and urban heritage. In this project, narrators who have relocated since the 1980s to the Netherlands, share their experiences of the consequences of relocation and the transition this entails. This collection of life stories presents 248 narratives of experiences of, and framing of the change, or continuance, relocation brings. The oral history interviewees present a first-hand experience in their personal lives and that of society (Craith, 2012).

From a governance perspective, policies are devised to explicitly aim at organising the process of transitioning around this relocation across borders, or with government’s

8 situation and position in society regarding new residents have been formulated since the 1980s (Scholten, 2011). Since then, these policies have evolved depending on the political climate in the country itself, in relation to Europe and the rest of the world, and events with a global impact. Regarding the themes of relocation and its consequences, the complexity of the issues makes discerning the most important points, the relations between them and the

consequences extremely difficult. A policy narrative provides a means to make sense of this from the political perspective (Boswell et al., 2011). The post-migration process has generally been viewed as self-evident and measurable in degrees of successfulness since the first

policies. Extensive research has been done on the formal process itself over the years, the changing goals and aims of policies (e.g. Schneider & Scholten, 2015) and comparisons with other countries and their governance (e.g. Meer, Mouritsen, Faas, & de Witte, 2015; Merolli, 2016; Wodak & Boukala, 2015). Furthermore, the position and role of new members of society has also been subject to research, in cases of discrimination, marginalisation or assimilation (Ruitenberg & Tio, 2018). The political discourse around post-relocation, for instance the portrayal of migrants in the political arena, is discussed in the literature as well. There is, however, less attention for the discourse of the post-relocation process in actual policy texts, how ‘transition’ and the related, targeted audience are framed.

The current thesis aims to connect the framing and meaning of transition through life stories to the discourse in policy texts on post-relocation and, thus, discover the discrepancies or parallels on transition or continuance in cases of post-relocation, to give a new dimension to the domain of Migration Studies in order to develop a more insightful and inclusive discourse on this topic. The insights on the meaning of transition and the framing of post-relocation, and the comparison of these can contribute to knowledge on the functioning of discourse and the impact of transition for people who have relocated across borders. This is formulated in the following research question: How do the life stories of people experiencing

9 the process of posts-relocation reflect the framing and meaning of transition and how has the discourse of post-migration in the Netherlands changed since the 1980s; and how are these related?

The following sub questions contribute to structuring this response. In chapter 2, life stories from the Ongekend Bijzonder oral history project are examined according to the question: How do people narrating their experience of before, during and after relocating to the Netherlands reflect on the post-relocation process? This raises the questions of how before, during and after is framed; and what this process of transition or continuance entails according to the oral histories? When discussing transition, it is necessary to determine what this transition entails in terms of which lived experiences are important or problematic and the reasons or causes for this. Furthermore, the role of place in transitioning from place to place is to be examined. The oral histories are structured according to an interview, which raises the issue of how the questions, as well as the relation and dynamic between interviewer and narrator shape the narration.

Chapter 3 covers the discourse of policy texts from the 1983 to 2018 on transitioning and post-relocation. The focus of this chapter is how has the post-migration policy discourse in the Netherlands changed since the commencement of this type of policies? First, which periods can be defined in the time-frame of 1980-2018? Second, how does the discourse discern between which target groups are defined by policy-makers and how are they framed? Third, how is this policy framed in terms of the process of transitioning? These questions serve to explore the change or continuance in discourse of the problematisation of post-relocation and the framing of transition.

In chapter 4 these discourses and framing of transition are compared to explore parallels and discrepancies, with the question: How is the discourse of the post-relocation policies from the period 1980-2018 related or different to the oral histories of people relocating to the

10 Netherlands. The sub questions that are central to this chapter are the following. First, how is the problem that is outlined by policy-makers different from or related to the issues emerging around transitioning, which are laid out in the oral histories?

The expected outcome is that the framing of transition according to the life story narrators differs fundamentally from the discourse of the policy texts, in terms of

problematising aspects of transitioning which are not perceived as a problem by the people experiencing the process.

1.1.

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The interdisciplinary research on framing the post-migration situation according to policies and people going through this process in the Netherlands is comprised of two parts. Chapter 2 focuses on the content and conditions of transition as experienced and remembered by people who have relocated to urban areas in the Netherlands. Chapter 3 focuses on the narratives and discourse of the policies of the Dutch government targeted at this transition. Subsequently these are compared in Chapter 4 to contribute to a comprehensive overview of the framing of transition after relocation attached to place, according to narrators in the oral history project Ongekend Bijzonder and the policies on this of the Dutch government since the 1980s.

1.1.1.ORAL HISTORIES

The oral history project of Ongekend Bijzonder (which translates to Specially Unknown with a double meaning translating to Unparalleled Special) ran in the Netherlands first from 2013 to 2015, with an extension to 2017. People who relocated to four different cities in the Netherlands since the early 1980s were interviewed and recorded either via video or audio, which was subsequently transcribed. This resulted in a collection of 248 life stories, which were all distributed to the respective city archives with the aim of contributing to the city’s

11 diverse cultural heritage. The interviews are also used in film, theatre, music, or visual arts in collaboration with community organisations. All the narrators from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht were interviewed by 24 bilingual fieldworkers. The goal of the interviews was to incite storytelling on how vluchtelingen (“refugees”; Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017c) have built a new life after relocation and how they contribute to the cities they currently live in. For the project, a standard list of themes for the questions was compiled, focusing on childhood, on change or difference in how the narrators shape their life as compared to before relocation, and on contributing to the life of the city (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017d).

The ten oral histories selected for the current research are all part of the online database either on the website of Ongekend Bijzonder, or for privacy reasons on DANS (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017d). First, for each policy period that is analysed in chapter 3, two or three oral histories are selected, depending on their length. Most oral histories take 60 to 90 minutes. An equal division of stories is envisaged to explore the temporal or chronological aspect of transition or change. Second, to ensure a pluriform perspective regarding registered place where relocation starts, each recorded city in the Netherlands is represented two or three times. Third, it is made sure that there is a somewhat equal distribution of oral histories for each of the cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague. Other factors to be considered such as gender and age are also controlled insofar as feasible.

The videos are replayed several times to extract the relevant parts, which are transcribed if a transcription is not already available. These extracts are labelled for their post-migration experience. The method for examining the narrative for a contribution to history is based on Candida Smith’s (2001) strategies in analysing interviews, taking into account the functioning

of oral histories, the power plays and the act of narration and asking questions. This method of ethnographic research is an open approach to retrieving and analysing the information that

12 an interviewee provides, and avoiding In examining the oral histories of this study, the

questions that Kuhn (2012) places at the centre of oral history research revolve around the effect of audience, interpreter, interviewer, interviewee, the interview questions and the medium of recording, which is to be taken into account. For instance, a critical distance is required in the interpretation phase by considering the role, power, and position of the interviewers, the questions that are asked and how this is interpreted in the current thesis.

1.1.2.POLICIES FOR THE POSTS-RELOCATION PROCESS IN THE NETHERLANDS

For the second part of this study, the discourse and framing of relocation or post-migration in the Netherlands is discussed. First, this is a discussion of the findings of the literature on this topic. Second, this section revolves around the policy texts on this process. The different aspects are discussed such as knowledge claims, the focus and goal of post-migration policy, the framing of the target groups, the significance and construct of place through these policies.

For each period that can be established according to the literature, labels are assigned to two policy documents. These documents are selected because they lead to later policy reform or they are the first instance of reform. The labels help to identify the instances that highlight the narrative on transition, policy targets and goals in the policies. With the labelled passages, the examination of the policy texts based on the method of Fairclough (2010: section D) for critically analysing discourse with regards to language in the socio-political context and the method of Boswell, Geddes and Scholten (2011) for extracting meaning from policy

narratives. Within Fairclough’s method, the discursive practices of targeting, goals and means can be analysed for ideology. Combining these methods allows for gaining a deep and

comprehensive understanding of what encompasses the discourse in post-migration policies on transition.

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Life stories are collections of information on impactful events on personal lives and on collective pasts. They are also an instrument to and objective of constructing imagined communities and identities. The content and form of these stories provide the framework for constructing them on an individual and collective level (Candida Smith, 2001, pp. 724–726). Researching history has been changed by studying these life stories because it reveals undiscovered aspects of history (Thomson, 2012, p. 13). The new methods include asking questions that aim to incite a response that involves meaningful experiences in the life course of the storyteller. The study of oral history contributes to various and interdisciplinary fields of science. Connecting all these different usages, the act of storytelling attributes meaning to historical events. The extracted meaning may provide different insights for psychologists or historians for instance. The salience of meaning within individual or collective narratives is the focal point of this research (Thomson, 2012, p. 4). Personal or communal versions of events as narrated through interviews, accompanied by photos, recorded audio or video in some cases, provide new insights on a community’s past, a society or a place (Benmayor,

2012, pp. 3–7).

“The first thing that makes oral history different, therefore, is that it tells us less about events than about their meaning. This does not imply that oral history has no factual validity. Interviews often reveal unknown events or unknown aspects of known events; they always cast new light on unexplored areas of the daily life of the non-hegemonic classes.”

14 In the tradition of researching oral histories, giving a voice to marginalised groups through oral history projects was the original goal for oral historians to improve society. A diversity of groups has been the object of oral history studies. This socio-cultural approach has not lost its importance for inclusion of groups or individuals that are confronted with feelings of exclusion in society (Ritchie, 2012, pp. 3–6). In the current research, this approach is followed, due to the nature of the Ongekend Bijzonder project that aims to increase the presence of the stories of new residents in the urban space (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017d). A documentation of life stories contributes in particular to understanding the past in the context of cultural practices in which the oral tradition plays an important role (Ballantine Perera & Canessa, 2016, pp. 3–4). In turn, this contributes to “engaging memory in political debate for social change” (Thomson, 2012, p. 6).

2.1.1.CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ORAL HISTORIES

Nevertheless, a critical stance is required because of dominant narratives affecting storytelling and interpretation (Thomson, 2012, p. 5). This play of power dynamics in

narratives has implications for the analysis of oral histories, especially if sensitive subjects are touched upon. The position of the researcher or the interviewer vis à vis the interviewee is crucial in extracting and interpreting meaning of the narrated past. This includes the questions that are asked, by whom they are asked and how the interviewer and interviewee are socially, politically, religiously, or ethnically distanced or related. The assumptions of the researcher or their subjectivity requires critical distance to ensure accurate extraction of meaning and interpretation (Ballantine Perera & Canessa, 2016; Benmayor, 2012). In addition to the observer’s bias, it is important to take into account how the story of the interviewee is

influenced with questions and whether they are left out in the recording to skew the interpretation of the response (Ritchie, 2012, p. 5). Therefore, the degree to which the oral history is presented as a monologue (with left out questions) or a dialogue is to be considered.

15 Above all, the creative character of the representation of identity and personal history

predominates in the oral histories. In this process, language serves as an instrument for understanding (Craith, 2012, pp. 2–10). Thus, the factual accuracy of the stories is less significant than how this history is represented in a creative process. Therefore, the fourth question on the transition experience of the storytellers involves these concerns: How do the questions, as well as the relation and dynamic between interviewer and interviewee shape the narration? In section 2.2.3. this is discussed with the expectation that identifiable interaction dynamics and the nature of the questions lead to a story that fits the expectations of the interviewer to a certain degree.

2.1.2.MEMORY IN ORAL HISTORIES

Experience is a key concept in the creation of oral histories and studying them (Ritchie, 2012, pp. 10–14). This entails also how this experience is remembered and turned into

memory, also called narrative memory. In this section, memory as a key aspect of oral histories, as well as the insights of Memory Studies useful for the analysis of oral histories, are discussed.

“Oral history relies on people's testimony to understand the past, while memory studies concentrate on the process of remembering and how that shapes people's understanding of the past.” (Ritchie, 2012, p. 10)

Following this, a distinction exists between oral history studies and memory studies dependent on the source of understanding the past. However, essential to research of oral histories is to examine the oral histories with the knowledge and methods of memory studies, especially those of autobiographical and collective memory of migrant communities.

First, the stories people narrate are a way of expressing and communicating their personal identity or the identity of a collective, according to Thomson(2012, p. 4). These

16 stories, in the framework of oral histories, are built on memory of experiences in the life of the storyteller. This can also encompass linking the experiences of others to the experience of the narrator. Even though the information that is communicated is subjective in nature, this might provide insights in how important or problematic certain events or processes were to people.Therefore, personal stories are of importance in discovering all aspects of historical events in relation to the present.

Second, it is relevant to understand what function memory serves in exploring the meaningful experience of the storytellers. In the context of this research, memories and meaning are connected. The experience itself as a factual sequence of events does not carry meaning. However, if the storyteller recounts certain experiences as memory, meaning is attached. The significance of experiences to personal or collective is revealed through that memory. According to Ritchie (2012) and Thomson (2012), this process is signalled in the content and chronology of the story, as well as in the omissions and hesitations. This makes every instance of storytelling unique because of an ongoing reconstruction of the memory of these experiences in different contexts. The accuracy of memories in the oral histories is not relevant. Rather, the subjectivity and dynamic character (Portelli, 2009, pp. 67–69) is constructive for the insights in what experiences are significant and meaningful for the storyteller.

2.1.3.THE MEMORY OF TRANSITION

A transition of place, in the current research referred to as (human) relocation, often entails a transition in different domains of life as well. This individual transition in the context of relocation is defined according to Van Tonder (2004, p. 233) as “a gradual and progressive

form of human change which encapsulates both cognitive and affective change and is viewed as an attempt at coming to terms at an intrapersonal level with environmental changes that

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impact on the person.” In this framework, human relocation and the ensuing personal

transition leads to a highly impacting experience for the individual and the collective.

Regarding the process of creating memory, many studies focus on the change in

memory. From these studies it is generally known that remembering the process of relocation is characterised by mobility and an ongoing negotiation and re-creation of memory (Tošić & Palmberger, 2016, pp. 2, 8). Because mobility is inherent to relocation, memory of relocation is redefined with changing circumstances or physical locations.

The initial stage, before the transition commences, has extensively been researched and related to the stage of completed transition or relocation. The foci of these studies aim to gain insight in how the definition of home is created (Eastmond, 2016; Lems, 2016), how activism for civil rights of minorities is organised (Broussard, 2012), and how cultural identities are defined and negotiated (Thomson, 1999). In general, individual, and collective memory of relocation is generally subject to research in the intersection between oral history studies and the so-called migration studies. Central to these studies are the processes of changing cultural practices and how a life is built in a different situation. A transition is presupposed; this study aims to explore how this possible transition is framed and remembered by the storyteller. Using the insights from oral histories is of importance to studies on relocation because the stories present a more complex and interconnected view of the implications of transition.

A transition implies a temporality as defined by the period or state before the transition, a period in which the process of transition unfolds and a period or state afterwards. Which experiences define these periods, or the process of transition is the question that is central, in relation to the framing of transition or continuance, which is discussed chapter 2. Especially the period after relocation, in terms of the memory and experience of this transition and inclusion forms the gap in research(Kleist & Glynn, 2012, p. 4) connecting with the study on policies targeted at these processes.

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2.1.3.1. Inclusive Oral Histories

The collective memory inspires these policies and politics, as well as assumptions that flow from these narratives, as explained further in the third chapter of the current thesis. As follows from the literature, oral history research has focused on different ethnic communities in particular. However, this approach in itself can be problematic when limiting categorisation occurs. This prevents the researcher and the audience to look past stereotypical or racist ideas of various groups, and diversity within and across groups is not reflected (Thomson, 1999, pp. 11–14). Therefore, this thesis does not attempt to examine the meaning of transition according to different categories of people; rather the fact that they have relocated and were the target of policies from the 1980s onward is what is important. Shared histories are the key words in approaching the life stories. Nevertheless, the identification by the government as belonging to a certain group or community and how this is processed in the stories (Legêne, 2011, pp. 55–60) is informative for the objective of this study. All the people who relocated from

former Dutch colonies, for instance, are categorised as post-colonial migrants in current times. This denomination of a group has come into existence in recent decades. Thus, the shared and intertwined history of people is not recognised in the dominant narrative of the government. These narratives are discussed in more detail in chapter 3.

The memory of arrival, reception, and forming community and fostering belonging is part of many oral history projects that include people who have relocated to a certain place. In this way national or local pasts start to diversify in the people it includes, whereas narratives of national or local pasts were more homogeneous before (Kleist & Glynn, 2012, pp. 3–5). This is part of expanding the dominant narrative by including narratives that shed another light on history. From earlier projects follows that the reason for relocation affects how memory is constructed with regard to ‘old’ and ‘new’ place and space, observed in the

19 5–7). Traumatic experiences before and during migration influence the memory of place and nation, which are rendered more neutral or positive than factual history might suggest.

Memory of a home before the war, constructed after migration due to fleeing this, is generally leaving out the more negative events or conditions of that space.

2.1.3.1. Analysing the Memory of Transition in Oral Histories

Traditions of storytelling in various cultural practices may differ from the interviewer’s cultural framework (Thomson, 2012, p. 12). This potential cultural difference is important to take into consideration for accurately interpreting meaning of stories of the newcomers, without overemphasising this because of the risk of overlooking meaning of a unique story. Furthermore, the language of storytelling is of high importance because it potentially has an effect on how an event is reconstructed as a memory; in what is filtered or omitted (Craith, 2012, p. 26). Language in the context of the current research is to be considered, since storytelling occurs in the second, or even third or fourth language of the interviewee.

Nevertheless, this perspective of drawing from various cultures and languages offers possible new insights on the reproduction of memory of relocation and transition.

Giving a voice to marginalised communities or individuals, oral histories have been playing an important role in engaging women in gaining understanding relocation-related events, situations, and experiences. From this follows that the roles for women and men can be different in terms of the motivations of their post-relocation choices, agency and

transferring cultural knowledge to new generations (Thomson, 1999, pp. 2, 5, 15). Similarly, people of different ages are interviewed, showing that generational differences exist for how people remember and make sense of their experiences before relocation and transition (Eastmond, 2016, p. 22). In the analysis of oral histories for its narrated memories, the complexities of the concept of transition is revealed.

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2.1.4.1. Place and Space

Before discussing place in the context of transition and relocation, it is necessary to define place. In Cresswell (2015, pp. 1–2, 15–16) place is explained as interdisciplinary. In many fields of science place is deconstructed, for instance in psychology, geography and sociology. The geographical place is not informative for understanding how it relates to processes such as transition, the creation of memory, a sense of belonging or the notion of home. With the definition of how these processes can attribute meaning to a more abstract space, turning it into a place, the analysis of the role of place in this thesis is discussed.

2.1.4.2. A Hybrid Sense of Belonging

In sociological and psychological studies on the situation after relocation, a sense of belonging is viewed as essential for measuring the efficacy of certain policies and formal processes (Bakker et al., 2016; Craith, 2012; Kleist & Glynn, 2012). From these studies follows that the experience of relocation involves a certain non-belonging to society. By relocating and experiencing other cultural forms and language, identifying with the place they relocated from has become complicated, while a sense of belonging in the new place is just increasing. Consequently, the hybridity that arises has benefits for understanding and accessing other cultures, which can be employed for creative purposes (Craith, 2012, p. 32). However, negative implications of loss of access to a culture can affect people’s well-being.

This hybridity is considered to come from a third space (Bhabha, 2004, p. 56), in between a former and the current context in which the negotiation of cultures, environments and the self is negotiated.

In this context, a sense of belonging is not based solely on the specific place.

Community affects this as well. The character of community has shifted with technological advancements from being based on the place it is positioned to forming a meaningful network (Bradshaw, 2008, pp. 6–7). Identifying with others and being in contact with them is what

21 defines this meaningful network. This shift of the nature of community also affects the

notions of membership and the “political construct of the nation-state” (Fokkema & de Haas, 2015, p. 8). Constructs such as the latter, which centre around place, are taken into

consideration when analysing the stories. How do the narrators relate to place and do they consider these constructs in relation to their transition?

Regarding language, its significance, and its use changes in a new (linguistic)

environment. Belonging has traditionally been attached to language (Craith, 2012, pp. 4–5), hence the instrumentalization of language for constructing a self, a collective or place. This also has implications for the identification of people who are finding their position in society. Social exclusion and perceived discrimination are institutionalised in the formal

post-relocation process in the Netherlands. This is an outcome of studies (e.g. Bakker et al., 2016) on the functioning of this formal process and it is, therefore, relevant because it raises the question if this is reflected in how people reflect upon this through the oral histories. Studies have not been carried out to the same extent of the identification and a sense of community for people with differing motivations to relocate, i.e. escaping violent conflicts or economic malaise (Tošić & Palmberger, 2016, p. 2). Generally, there is a focus on the classification of groups of people with varying degrees of belonging. Instead in the current thesis, the oral histories can provide new insights on the content of belonging that can be generalised for the entire population.

2.1.4.3. The Role of Place in Memory and Oral History Projects

In oral histories there is an interplay between individual memory and collective

memories. The tension between these memories or a mutual reinforcement is reflected in what aspects or events are forgotten or celebrated, and the basis for this. Time changes this due to circumstances that create a need for silence or that foster processing problematic events (Ritchie, 2012, p. 10). The tradition of studying memory as a national narrative (Tošić &

22 Palmberger, 2016, pp. 2–3) and oral histories as providing a more diverse view of society (Ritchie, 2012, p. 3) creates opportunities for combining the insights of both fields in the current study. This juxtaposition is reflected in the question of the role of place in the narrative of the oral histories. Is there a collective or individual memory linked to place in these life stories? This is analysed in section 2.2.2.

The way in which memory is displayed is in the form of heritage. Therefore, oral history projects, such as Ongekend Bijzonder, aim to contribute to the availability of these stories in different cities. The stories are recorded to fulfil a function of displaying and researching heritage. For this reason, city archives play a role in the conservation of these stories. Heritage of a city or local area does not only play an aesthetic or possibly an artistic role but rather, and more importantly, value is actively attached to this heritage to foster a sense of belonging and a construction of identity (Graham & Howard, 2008, p. 37). Heritage goes beyond the material objects when oral histories are considered. They are regarded as intangible heritage, comprised of a variety of experiences (van der Hoeven, 2019, pp. 62–66).

2.1.4.4. Storytelling in the Urban Context

Especially in studies on relocation and relating to memory, place and space play a highly important role (Tošić & Palmberger, 2016, pp. 4, 8). A place may provide the basis for an identity, whereas the access to this identity can be seen as problematic in the case of relocation. Nationalist rhetoric often uses this notion to attach a national identity to the place (Whitehead et al., 2015, pp. 9, 18). Nevertheless, place identity, as Whitehead et al. (2015, p. 13) describe, is a notion that is not political in essence. The construction of an individual or collective identity with reference to a place, as a space that significance is assigned to, is more comprehensive. This factor is taken into focus in studies on how people in urban areas reflect on their experience before arriving and after arrival.

23 Urban areas are particularly interesting due to the superdiversity (Vertovec, 2007) instigated by globalisation. Mobility of people from all over the world has increased the diversity of cities, which accounts for more hybridity, new cultural forms but also weaker communities. However, the factors that many studies or government evaluations use for the urban area, such as gender, age and ethnicity, do not reflect the “lived experience” of the city with its diversity (Husband et al., 2014, p. 2). From the perspective of urban heritage, the remembering of its new residents is essential to the make-up of memory and history of the city (van der Hoeven, 2019, p. 61). More importantly, the new resident becoming part of or being part of that urban past plays a great role in the oral history projects centred in a city’s

heritage. Centres of knowledge of that heritage, such as museums, have a possibility to use the stories to reflect a more comprehensive view of the city’s cultural heritage (Whitehead et al., 2015, pp. 8–10).

The narrators of the oral histories are the creators as well as the audience since the untold stories are uncovered and lead to recognition and new storytelling on the negotiation of cultures and integration. This is called the cycle of recognition (Thomson, 1999, pp. 31–32). In the project of Ongekend Bijzonder, the urban factor in the stories of the narrators is prominent, which leads to the question to what extent this is salient for the framing of their transition after relocation.

2.1.4.5. The Factors of Place in Connection to Transition

Regarding the position of place in this thesis, various connections need to be

considered. From this chapter flows that place is linked to the concept of community, a sense of belonging, the location of memory (construction), the structure of the oral history as a contributing factor to urban heritage and access to culture. These aspects are considered in the analysis that emanates from the question what the role of place is in oral histories on

24

2.2.

S

P

-R

T

The oral histories of the project Ongekend Bijzonder (2017c) all centre around the question how refugees since the 1980s have been building a new life in the Netherlands, according to the project description (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017d). The project places importance on their belonging and contribution to the city in which they live. The project’s objective is to make the experience of relocation and the process of building a life in several urban areas in the Netherlands more visible, because their past and their memory of this is part of the history of a diverse population in that city. Consequently, with their stories, they contribute to the city’s heritage with their narrations of their experience before and after

arrival in the area. The stories are donated to the various city’s archives.

In the context of this research, the oral histories are analysed for their narration on the impactful life change of navigating a new life in the Netherlands. To achieve a structured, well-defined extraction of meaning, this chapter centres around the question: How do people narrating their experience of before, during and after relocating to the Netherlands, reflect on this process? For each of the oral histories, first, the framing of a process of transition or continuance by the narrators, as well as the aspect of time, is discussed. Second, the salience of the narrated experiences to the interviewee are examined: the important or problematic aspects in the process of transition. Third, the role of place in the oral histories is analysed. Fourth, the questions, and the relation and dynamic between interviewer and interviewee are subject to analysis to evaluate how the narration is shaped. The oral histories are discussed thematically and in section 2.2.1. in a chronological order based on the date of arrival in the Netherlands, as documented in the project Ongekend Bijzonder.

25 The dynamic character of relocation implies change. How this is framed by the narrators of the life stories of Ongekend Bijzonder is discussed in this section on their experience and framing of transition or continuance.

2.2.1.1. Place-Linked Transition in Understanding and ‘Adapting’

The first oral history subject to analysis is the recording of an interview (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015a) with a man who fled Vietnam with his young family in the early 1980’s. He has been living in different cities but has been living in the area of Utrecht in the last decades. In his account of building a life in the Netherlands, there is a clear distinction between before and after relocation. The temporal aspect of relocation links place to time in his story. From his story it can be distilled that the transition in his life starts with the travel from Vietnam, which is a silent topic, and comes to a conclusion in culturally understanding and becoming a contributing part of the social life in the city he currently lives in.

Characteristic to his conception of after the transition is having let go of the possibility of returning to Vietnam. The transition is completed but there is a continuance of his feelings of attachment to the life and the people in Vietnam, which is discussed in the section on the role of place. When he talks about now, he describes the change he has gone through regarding understanding and incorporating a way of life. ‘Aanpassen’ (adapting) is the word used next to ‘iets doen voor de maatschappij’ (contributing to society) that defines the process of

transition and change related to the relocation to the Netherlands. To him, living in a certain place entails contributing to the society of that place in multiple ways. For instance,

participation in society is not only working a job but also fulfil a function with social impact, such as working with non-profit NGO’s. He stresses the importance of helping each other in a society and its reciprocity, so that when one needs help someday, it will be given.

“Ik zou niet het leven van andere mensen bepalen. Ik zou met mijn vrouw goed overleggen. Maar ik zou niet met vuur spelen met het leven

26 van mijn kinderen. Het is een groot risico. Het is nu anders. In Vietnam

speelt de vrouw een ondergeschikte rol, dus toen zei mijn vrouw: ‘Ja, ik ga mee.’ Nu zou ik dat niet zo doen.”

(Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015a)

The basis for this framing of his transition is in the experiences which he recounts. The man experienced that building a network is essential for him and his family in order to contribute to the city’s cultural and public health. This man sees importance in adaptation while he tells about how he raised and educated his children in a new environment. Even with feelings of insecurity and guilt towards his children, he did not give them the education in the way that he was used to but followed the expectations of teachers and other parents. These expectations are part of Dutch culture, in his view, and they are to be respected as such. This process of defying his own expectations and the norms that he was taught, works towards adapting to the norms of his new environment, which defines the transition of relocation in his view. Child-rearing choices he did make that were different from other parents in the

Netherlands at the time, he would not repeat in hindsight. Eventually, these choices would result in a deeper understanding of the Dutch education system and its expectations, as well as social conventions.

This is also reflected in his response to the question whether he would make the choice of fleeing Vietnam in hindsight: with his children in mind and knowledge of the dangers that they faced, he is doubtful that he would have made that choice again. The point he makes in telling this experience is that his view on the position of women has changed. The position of the woman in Vietnamese society was hierarchically lower than that of the man, leading to the predisposition of excluding her from the decision-making process, as illustrated in the citation below. The man describes how, with the views he has acquired in living through transition, he would give his wife a voice in the matter of leaving their home at the time. A thorough

life-27 changing event shaped how he reflected on his own position in society and in the family, in which equality has become a defining factor, according to this interview. The dynamics of power that might be at play here are discussed in section 2.2.3.

2.2.1.2. Community Facilitates or Affects Transition

The woman who fled Chile as a child in the 1980s (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015b) does not discuss extensively the life before transitioning or the experience of the travel. She does, however, recognise that there is a transition related to moving to the Netherlands, which starts, according to the beginning of her storytelling, at the arrival at the airport in the

Netherlands. She tells of different levels of complexity or difficulty to the transition, which is defined as becoming part of a community, claiming a role in society, growing a sense of belonging and learning the language. In comparison to her mother, she had less difficulty in understanding and feeling comfortable with the expected independence of women in the Netherlands. Acquiring the language and skills that are useful in supporting this independence proved to be more difficult for her mother. The experiences that are salient in this storytelling, include the positive memories that are attached to the city’s community engaging and

including her family with enthusiasm. Upon arrival, the family of this woman could start living in this community, instead of in a centre for asylum seekers, which helped her through the transition, described with the word aanpassen (“adapting”). The moment more families from Chile arrived helped her because of the shared experience of finding a place in the community. From this story follows that the framing of before is silent: it is implied in the transition that started upon arrival in the Netherlands. During this transition, keywords are used such as adapting and finding a place, as well as feeling comfortable with the new

experiences of a different environment. After this transition, which takes about a year for this woman, and longer for her mother as she recounts, the Dutch language is acquired and the expected norms in terms of independence for women, are adopted.

28

2.2.1.3. Transition as Addition

The following extensive oral history is from a man who fled Iran by competing in a World Championship for wrestling that was held in the Netherlands in the 1980s (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015g).

His life story starts before his life began with his parents who moved from farm life outside the city into southern Teheran, an area with more poverty and lack of security. He frames the transition related to relocation as starting before the actual relocation. This period is characterised by surviving on the streets, getting through school with a visual impairment but in a loving family and a passion for wrestling. A few years before his one-way trip to the Netherlands, his outlook towards life changed. The desire to be an “architect of [his] own life”

conflicted with the expectations and realities of the regime of the ayatollahs. A struggle with the framework of rules that he felt were imposed on him led to tension with authorities.

The transition is defined as starting with ‘fleeing to freedom’ in his words. Finding a

way to optimally use this freedom as a refugee is what constitutes this transition. This is not only freedom from violence or persecution, but also the freedom to discover who he is. A very personal transition involves developing resilience.

The metaphor the man uses for a transition is overcoming hurdles until you have reached the top of the mountain and you will be able to enjoy the sight. This is not the end of transitioning; it entails seeing a new and better goal from there resulting in a conscious new change in life. In other words, the progress a person can make in his life is directed towards a certain goal.

To illustrate this, the man recounts the memory of his father telling him that from the mountains surrounding Teheran, on the top of the highest he would find a chest of gold. One day he would reach this mountain and not find that chest of gold. His father told him to look in the distance where he would see an even higher mountain. This would be his next goal.

29 Arriving in the Netherlands, in a flat landscape, he developed the insight that it is not about an actual mountain that he would have to climb to find beauty at the top. Rather, every

experience contributes to building a life, which includes learning the language, finding work, training, and housing, and building a network of people. An example of an obstacle that he had to overcome in this process was learning the language to escape isolation. His visual impairment complicated his access to facilities, services, and other people. The help of volunteers of Vluchtelingenwerk (NGO for refugees in the Netherlands) was valuable in overcoming this isolation and starting new activities to reach his plans to work on human rights and the law. His transition was completed with his naturalisation and a name change. He has chosen a name that is based on a typical Frisian surname, but the name has not been given to anyone before. Thus, the new name would symbolise his transition to belonging and starting a new life, as well as being a new addition, bringing new perspectives to society. There is a certain degree of continuance as well because his life with his family continues when he speaks with them on the phone or they visit him. On the other hand, he has started a new life with a new name in the Netherlands.

The period after this transition of struggling for freedom and autonomy in a new environment is characterised by the start of a new transition. Even though he had been active in local politics because of his affinity with standing up for social-democratic ideals before his move to The Hague in the 2000s, he became more politically active when the liberties of citizens and human rights were under attack because of policies co-created by his party.

2.2.1.4. Transitioning is Negotiating Old and New

In the 1990s the man from Baghdad, Iraq (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015c) relocated to Amsterdam, fleeing persecution and violence. He is described as a theatre producer. His storytelling full of metaphors revolves around the negotiation of two cultures. In this account of transitioning, he does not base this on the temporal aspect of before, during and after.

30 Rather, the story involves ‘old’ and ‘new’ (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015c) existing alongside

each other to a certain extent. The man envisions to serve as a bridge between these notions.

The city of Baghdad is referred to as the ‘old’ city and Amsterdam as the new. In his story, the living experience of sharing a lot of food, hospitably welcoming people, enjoying the warmth, and art and cultural expressions are what he misses from this ‘old’ city.

Contrastively, this is not what he found in Amsterdam because of distant contact, hard-working and fast-moving people, but this has also led to a structured society and beautiful expressive culture such as theatre and music. Knowledge and understanding of all the aspects of society and living in this environment must be acquired de novo. On the other hand, he brings practices and knowledge from the life before his relocation, into his art and contact with others in his neighbourhood. There is a sort of exchange because both modes of living and environments have become part of him. The experience of isolation because of distant interaction has led to an active countering this by looking for contact, approaching neighbours and always warmly welcoming others in his house.

The process of a transition is that negotiation between the internalised ‘old’ and the encountered ‘new’. He describes this first encounter of the new situation as a culture shock,

which he then uses to contribute to creative diversity in the city by making theatre pieces. Transition for him is the difficult process of coping with the differences in life after relocation, motivating a to giving back beautiful things to the city that has received and protected him. Creative productions are a means to add happiness to others in the same city. This ongoing process does not imply a conclusion to the transition.

2.2.1.5. The Adoption of a Lifestyle

In the same period, a young man from the area of Ethiopia and Eritrea (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015d) arrived in the Netherlands. Dissimilarly from the theatre maker, the life

31 story on the transition of this man is structured according to a before, during, and after a transition linked to relocation.

As a young child, the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia prepared him for the

experiences he would later have in forming and shaping his life in another location. His focus on safety, security and comfortable interaction with others facilitates adopting a new lifestyle. Living is a human experience, regardless of the place, which in turn entails continuance in his view. However, a distinct transition took place in his life. This second phase, during the actual transition, started the moment the smuggler put him on the train in Rotterdam to Amsterdam. Encountering people that were so different to him and the enormous amount of new

information and impressions was overwhelming. This experience inspired him to start to learn as much and as fast as he could. Acquiring knowledge on society and coming into contact and developing relations with people outside the asylum centre was essential for his wellbeing. For that reason, he started doing voluntary work with a municipal organisation to have purpose, to learn the language and to be in contact with society. After completing the obligatory civic integration process, the transition got a deeper dimension of getting

responsibility in his work. This included acquiring competences to navigate through society as a person. Adapting and adopting the lifestyle is what constitutes his transition in this

narrative. This felt especially meaningful to him because to succeed in his job he was

expected to be an example for the young people he was working with. Being in control of his life with regard to the expectations in society was important and constitutes the phase after the transition. In raising his children and being a father in a situation with different expectations and perspectives than what he knew before, this being in control is reflected.

The difficult experience is being occupied with a personal transition, with financially sustaining himself and the family, with how society perceives him and social expectations, and the development of his children. Navigating through this and the problems of others at his

32 workplace that offers opportunities for learning for young people has changed him in

hindsight. After going through these experiences, he has come out feeling stronger, with “een ongelofelijk netwerk, een ongelofelijke belevenis en een hele rijke ervaring van de

maatschappij en de politiek” (an enormous network and incredibly rich life experience of society and politics; Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015d).

2.2.1.6. Connecting is Continuing

At the start of the millennium, a man (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015e) with his young family fled Afghanistan and having lived in different parts of the Netherlands, he has settled in the area of The Hague at the time of interviewing.

Before the man fled Afghanistan, there was an ongoing war without perspective of safety from violence. Relocation does not imply that every aspect of life changes as the story of the Afghan boxer illustrates. There is a continuance of what identifies him: boxing. His love for sports, boxing and teaching defines his daily activities wherever he lives. Moreover, there is no actual difference in Afghanistan or the cities and villages of the Netherlands in his view, even though differences between people exist. However, this occurs everywhere since this is part of human life. Personal transition comes about through learning how to engage with other people, regardless of the place. Important in this process is not to become the same as someone else. Religion or the place where people come from are not relevant factors in this process, according to this oral history. Change in his life is marked by building meaningful relationships with neighbours and friends, in which the language is instrumental.

Even though language acquisition is difficult, working and meeting people supports this; thus, the effort is essential, according to the man from The Hague (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015e). His memory of the neighbours helping language acquisition of his children is the mutual effort and the essential help of the community in finding a way through society. Building a network is also important in this process, and it does not necessarily entail a

33 network of fellow refugees or Afghans, but it revolves around the daily activities of hobby, sports, education, or work. Most important in building a life is having a positive outlook towards culture. By combining different and complementing aspects of each culture, an even better culture can be built on a personal, communal, and societal level. This requires an active choice of the people involved.

All in all, the oral history of this man does not reflect a clear demarcation in before, during or after a transition. Rather, it is a gradual process of change throughout his entire life after moving (this could be argued as framing the notion of before), in which meaningful relationships and learning to engage with other people are a central focus.

2.2.1.7. Connection through Language & Openness

The woman who relocated from Congo to the Netherlands in the first decade of the 2000s (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015f) tells of her struggle with the transition of building a new life in different cities. The period before the transition is a silent topic. It starts when she arrived and heard the language. The unfamiliarity and difficulty for her to learn the language prevented her from connecting with people. Moreover, the culture shock associated with the distantness of people she encountered was an experience that limited meaningful interaction with them. In other words, she remembers her struggle to learn the language and how she is put at a distance by society because of a culture of distantness that lacks openness in engaging with differences. This is illustrated by the quote from her video-taped oral history, in which she speaks about the difficulty, frustration and struggle with the language and the distantness embedded in the culture in the Netherlands, as per her observation.

O.M.G., die taal! Wat spreken die mensen? Hoe kan deze taal bestaan?[…] Hoe ga ik communiceren met deze mensen? Dat was echt zwaar. De taal was mijn grootste ellende. En hoe de mensen koud waren. Tot nu toe heb ik dat nog steeds; dat was een cultuurshock voor

34 mij. Iedereen zit gewoon op z’n eigen.

(Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015f)

She frames her personal transition as bridging the gap between herself and society through language and openness towards others. There is a continuance in the transition because it is an ongoing process of overcoming shock and exerting herself to bridging the distance that others keep. In this process, learning the Dutch language serves as a “brug om bij de maatschappij te horen” (bridge to belonging to society), by understanding its

functioning, its laws and people’s interaction. This metaphor of language as a bridge is used first by the narrator to explain what her goal of transitioning is.

There is no mention of having completed this transition. Rather her story of transition after relocation is narrated as an active and ongoing process.

2.2.1.8. A Transition in Progress

The youngest person interviewed in this project is the girl who relocated from Syria to Utrecht because of violent conflict (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017a). This interview was part of the second series of interviews in the project, which indicates that no more than two years have passed since relocating with her family.

Her oral history exists for a large part of the narration of her experiences before

relocation and transition. Memories of home include the landscape, the daily events of going to school, the friendships and weekly family time. The war brought on the forced change in location, interruption of her education and personal change. This narration is the first one which includes storytelling on the experience of relocating itself. Without further explaining what the impact or meaning of those experiences entailed

The transition produced non-permanent circumstances, even though the (prospective) outcomes of it serve to build up again the life she had before. In other words, she tells about how the transition followed from her experience in living in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, but

35 this state of living is only temporary for her. She aims to return to the place where her earlier memories are formed and where her friends and family reside, as illustrated in the citation below. All the knowledge, competences and her mindset are instrumental to what she aims to employ in literally building up that destructed area. Her envisaged future is based on

following university education in architecture to acquire competences and knowledge to help build up Syria again. Until that is possible, language, education and voluntary work contribute to providing the opportunity to study.

“Mijn land heeft mij veel gegeven, en al mijn familie zijn daar gebleven, mijn herinneringen, mijn vriendinnen, mijn leven eigenlijk. Dan moet ik teruggaan om dat op te bouwen.”

(Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017a)

Her personal transition also consists of growing in independence and strength because of new responsibilities that the circumstances demand. Especially the fact that learning the language was a quicker process for her than for her parents led to increased involvement in official proceedings, such as in healthcare, education, and other public and government procedures for her family. Because of these challenging experiences after relocation, Dutch proficiency is a prerequisite for building a life, in her view. Relocation and its consequences generate learning which extends beyond learning the language or acquiring knowledge on the working of society and the content of culture. More importantly, a personal change to cope with the consequences of transition is the result. In her visual arts, her transition from living in conditions of war to a peaceful, better future are visualised.

In her story, there is a continuance to be discovered in the interaction and contact with other people. The familiarity of the Syrian community in her city gives certainty in the uncertain times associated with establishing a life in the unknown environment. This also has the priority in case of return to Syria. The envisaged temporal character of her residence in the

36 Netherlands is the motivation for building a life in close contact with this community. In her story, feeling safe is the most important aspect of building a new life, which this community can offer.

The temporal aspect of a transition is framed by narrating of the experiences before and during the transition. What defines the period after the transition is not yet characterised by experiences, since the interviewee is transitioning at the moment of telling her life story. Because of her narration on her dreams that she is trying to accomplish, this transition is an uncompleted process. No experiences can yet reveal how she frames the period after the transition because in her perspective this is a period characterised by going back to Syria and rebuilding the life, she, and the people around her had. Her transition, therefore, is a process in which the acquired competences, knowledge and personal development are valuable resources for a return to Syria.

2.2.1.9. Transition is Understanding Interaction

For the woman from Syria (Ongekend Bijzonder 2017b), the process of transition is gaining understanding of how people interact in her new environment. The instrumental character of language in creating this understanding is emphasised. Disregarding her native language as she is learning the Dutch language is important to engage with society. Part of the process of transition is also not wanting to be reminded of negative memories associated with the motivations for relocation, namely violent conflict from the situation before relocation. These problematic experiences drive her transition to the envisaged goal of having

meaningful interaction in society.

2.2.2.THE ROLE OF PLACE

As the temporal aspect of transitioning after relocation is explored in the analysis of the oral histories in chapter 2.2.1., the spatial element of transition is researched in this section. The focus is the meaning of place in transition for people leaving one place for another. The

37 framing of place according to the oral histories, in terms of the meaning of place as reflected in experience, the role of community or belonging attached to a place, the function of the urban character to the framing of place, and the differences or similarities between places.

2.2.2.1. Framing the Place before Relocation

The place where the movement of relocation starts becomes part of the oral histories on transition due to the interviewer’s question into the situation and conditions of this place. This section focuses on the importance or the problematic aspects of that place to the narrators. Every story starts in a different place and the meaning of those places in the lives of people now living in a different place varies as well.

For people participating in the project, the motivation for relocation is to escape violent conflict or persecution. The negative memories attached to this place influence how it is recounted in the storytelling. Therefore, in the story of the woman from Syria (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017b) she tells of how she does not want to be reminded of the memories of that place. Silence on all the meaningful and problematic aspects of this place helps to focus on every circumstance that the current place produces.

“Ik probeer niet herinnerd te worden. Geen Arabisch TV-kanaal, want ik wil Nederlands leren, niet alleen voor de taal, maar alle cultuur van de Nederlanders.”

(Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017b)

The life stories of the girl from Syria (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017a) and the woman from Congo (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015f) present a different perspective. Positive memories are attached to the place they relocated from. Next to the landscape, the interaction patterns between people and the importance of communities linked to that place form an extensive part of their life story. The positive meaningful experiences to transition occurred in the place of before relocation. A sense of belonging is attached to that specific place because it

38 accommodates the network of which these narrators were a significant part of. This is

illustrated in the following passage, in which place is framed as the locus of positive and meaningful memories of before the transition. Furthermore, this place is the ultimate location to return to once conditions and circumstances open opportunities.

“Mijn land heeft mij veel gegeven; en al mijn familie zijn daar gebleven, mijn herinneringen, mijn vriendinnen, mijn leven eigenlijk. Dan moet ik teruggaan om dat op te bouwen.”

(Ongekend Bijzonder, 2017a)

For others, the relation to the place from where they relocated is more complex. The framing of the place and its meaning for them in their transition is not uncompounded in terms of problematic or positively important memories. There are similarities in life stories on the place before their relocation

Place is connected to the societal structures of community and interaction. For instance, in the context of oppression, violence or social control for the storytellers from Teheran and Vietnam respectively (Ongekend Bijzonder, 2015a; 2015g). The latter tells of his experience of social control and related oppression occurring in the place he relocated from. Similarly, the circumstances forced the storyteller from Teheran in younger years to build strength in terms of dealing with violence, oppression, and marginalisation. This storyteller identifies this place as the streets of the city of Teheran, where he lived before relocating. This place can be seen as a source of negative memories, but the story exemplifies that there is importance in the experiences for the life transition in a new environment. For instance, fighting against this system also led to interest in politics and human rights as part of building a life after

relocation.

From other oral histories, the framing of the place from the start of relocating is more interconnected to the place to where the storyteller relocates. Nevertheless, framing the