Transnational Re-Creation: A Study on the Enculturation of the Second Generation Sri Lankan Tamils in Germany

Abstract

The prime purpose of this research is to discover how the members of the second generation of Sri Lankan Tamils in Germany negotiate between their traditional Tamil culture and the German culture, the present one. Such a process is understood here in various dimensions: enculturation in the family atmosphere, continuation of cultural institutions such as traditional marriage customs and celebrations, festivals, and the erection and animation of educational organizations specifically to promote Tamil language and culture. It is also recognized as a cultural reproduction mechanism through numerous cross-cultural experiences of the Sri Lankan Tamils second generation in Germany. Thus, this research tries to show the Tamil diaspora's second generation in view of their difficulties with the new cross-cultural circumstances in their everyday life, and also in the light of their struggle with their parents and elders (in the familial atmosphere) in attempting to share with them due to the new cultural worldviews they acquire from a Westernized society. In other terms, this study tries to understand how socio-cultural identity plays a crucial role beyond the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora's religious and political context in Germany. Thus, the aim of this thesis includes an extended analysis of the socio-cultural context of the first- and second-generation Sri Lankan Tamils, thereby capturing holistic perspectives regarding the socio-cultural experiences of both these groups, especially in the second-generation context.