{"title":"Trapped in Time and Place: Cognitive Immobility among Diaspora Communities","authors":"Olumba E. Ezenwa, Alessandra Gola, Lowe E. Mfon","doi":"10.1163/09763457-bja10127","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article adopts the interpretative phenomenological analysis (<span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">IPA</span>) approach to explore the phenomenon of cognitive immobility, where individuals remain cognitively trapped in experiences or locations despite elapsed time and physical distance from those events and places. It explores how (im)mobility and life transitions hold people in the past. The study focuses on the cognitive experiences of Mrs Eve, an African-American woman who on her first visit to Dakar, Senegal, felt a deep, unexplained connection to the place. The article triangulates Mrs Eve’s experiences against those shared by other individuals in previously published peer-reviewed narratives to reveal how (im)mobility and life transitions can lead to cognitive immobility. It underscores that traumatic or memorable life experiences can result in cognitive immobility under certain circumstances and thus enriches the discourse on people who are cognitively trapped in their past.</p>","PeriodicalId":42341,"journal":{"name":"Diaspora Studies","volume":"168 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Diaspora Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/09763457-bja10127","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article adopts the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to explore the phenomenon of cognitive immobility, where individuals remain cognitively trapped in experiences or locations despite elapsed time and physical distance from those events and places. It explores how (im)mobility and life transitions hold people in the past. The study focuses on the cognitive experiences of Mrs Eve, an African-American woman who on her first visit to Dakar, Senegal, felt a deep, unexplained connection to the place. The article triangulates Mrs Eve’s experiences against those shared by other individuals in previously published peer-reviewed narratives to reveal how (im)mobility and life transitions can lead to cognitive immobility. It underscores that traumatic or memorable life experiences can result in cognitive immobility under certain circumstances and thus enriches the discourse on people who are cognitively trapped in their past.
期刊介绍:
Diaspora Studies is the interdisciplinary journal of the Organisation for Diaspora Initiatives (ODI) and is dedicated to publishing academic research on traditional diasporas and international migrants from the perspective of international relations, economics, politics, identity and history. The journal focuses specifically on diasporas and migrants as resources for both home and host countries. The scope of the journal includes the role of diasporas and international migration as important drivers in international relations, in development, and within civil societies. The journal welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions on comparative diasporas and state engagement policies, and aims to further scholarship and debate on emerging global networks and transnational identities. Diaspora Studies publishes: 1. Reviewed research papers 2. Book reviews 3. Conference reports 4. Documents on diaspora policies