Journal Article — Transnational Identity Maintenance via the Internet: A Content Analysis of the Websites Constructed by Second Generation Caribbean-Origin Students in Post–Secondary Institutions — by Dwaine Plaza

Using a methodology of content analysis of Internet Websites constructed by second generation Caribbeans in the United States, Canada and Great Britain (n=50), this article reveals how websites act as a symbolic bridge that connects familiar Creole cultural values and practices with the second generations’ feelings of object loss and cultural mourning. The analysis also reveals that many second generation Caribbean-origin university and college students are living both “here” and “there” on a transnational “hyphen.” For many, their ethnicity and cultural identity is fluid, situational and volitional. Their identity is often based on a dynamic process in which boundaries and cultures are negotiated, defined and produced though social interactions both inside and outside their community. The construction of Internet websites can be seen as a tool, which allows second generation Caribbeans in the international Diaspora to participate in an evolving transnational culture.