Who are we and what have we experienced? : the incomplete migrants and their community of origin

The reconstruction of the migrants’ identity is an essential condition for the migrants' adaptation in their new place of settlement. Such reconstruction in the case of incomplete, pendulum migration is more complicated. This type of migration is characterized by its relatively short term nature and multiple travels of migrants between their country of origin and the target country. The identity of the so-called pendulum migrants is composed of cultural elements belonging both to the receiving society and to the native one. As a result migrants confront components of their identity constructed during interactions in the host society with their group of origin whenever they come back to their home country. It is a special process of re-adaptation to their original society. One can distinguish different types of narrations used by pendulum migrants. Those diverse techniques of communication differ in their cognitive and emotional components. The narrations fulfill many functions. For instance, they sustain social relations and social ties, satisfy the need for social prestige and recognition, and facilitate the acceptance of the negative experiences of migration. The different types of narrations are applied contextually and situationally depending on the motive, goal and the partner of the interaction. The paper contains a detailed analysis of the features of the above-mentioned narrations and the circumstances of their formation and use