In a time of political disruption and a search for cultural identity, individuals with dual-citizenship emerge as the unifiers of the world. As a Franco-British citizen, I wanted to see if I was the only one wondering where I fit in. I interviewed different students from the University of Essex who cherish this particular quality of dual-citizenship.
There were those who grew up in one country before coming to university the UK. Valentina Coppola, a Brazilian-Italian student, grew up in São Paulo, Brazil with an Italian mother. She learnt Portuguese and Spanish at school but, whilst benefiting from the large Italian community in São Paulo and her Italian mother, it was too confusing to have all three languages and so she dropped Italian. “We have a whole neighbourhood dedicated to Italian culture, so I never had to balance or include different traditions, it always felt super natural”. Her family kept some traditions in this mix of cultures, such as enjoying Brazilian food on Saturdays and Italian pasta on Sundays. Meanwhile, French-Sri-Lankan Ashini Bamunuvitharana grew up in France but travelled to Sri Lanka every two years and learnt Sinhalese from her father. She celebrates both French and Sri Lankan holidays, including New Year’s Eve in April and eats food from both countries. She got the full hybrid experience, as she describes here; “My French nationality has been more useful as I live in France, but I go back often to Sri Lanka so it is well balanced. I like to believe that I am well immersed in both cultures”. Franco-British student William Hodder grew up in Paris with parents from both countries. Speaking predominantly English at home, his underlying culture was French due to school and friends. However, “from an early age my father, who is English, made a point of getting me used to British culture especially with regards to sport”.
Other interviewees either grew up in one country before moving to another, taking a second nationality or simply grew up in both. Samira Biebire grew up in Burkina Faso before moving to Italy as a teenager. She speaks Italian, her tribal language as well as French, the national language in Burkina Faso. When arriving in Italy, she struggled with being part of a minority black community, which clouded her experience. She says, “There was no way for me to have friends that sort of understood me. And I felt wrong for who I was. I wanted to deny my African part so badly just so I could have fitted in!”. She did eventually adapt, mastering the language and gaining the nationality. Daniel Nwonu, on the contrary, had a better experience moving from Nigeria to Southeast London. He said, “I suppose starting in London must have helped. The black community is big there, so I didn’t feel isolated when I initially moved to the UK.” He eventually gained British citizenship and now considers himself more British than Nigerian. Finally, Italo-Greek student Alessia Mourkogianni grew up in both countries juggling cultures of Catholic Italy and Orthodox Greece. She said, “I now spend one Christmas in Greece and then one in Italy; it’s always versatile”.
Being bicultural means getting the best out of each culture; Theodora Bombassei, a Belgian-Italian student, explained how, while living in Belgium, she showed an “interest in Italian art with opera, painters, classical music as well as more modern music (...) food wise we do use a good plate of pasta or pizza as comfort food but we usually tend to have them quite refined”. William also expressed a common feeling most dual-citizens experience: “You get a foothold in two great cultures which helps broaden the mind.”.
Having a hybrid identity is not however always easy. Having two official passports does not mean having the background and understanding of both nationalities. Learning and maintaining more than one language, although very useful, is a hidden challenge which Theodora faced with difficulty. Initially, “by not speaking Italian, I felt as though I was “a fake Italian and that I could not really represent the country”, a feeling she shares with many dual-citizens. Valentina faced the similar issue by not speaking Italian and she ended up feeling like a “Brazilian with an Italian status”. She did feel however, that both cultures, when exercised regularly and for a long period of time, become “intrinsic and mixed”: without one or the other culture, you would not be the same person. A notion shared by Samira, who “just mixes both of the cultures”, depending on the situation; you change your accent or behaviour or present a different point of view.
Samira suffered upon her arrival in Italy when there were few black people. She was considered too African in Italy and too European in Burkina Faso. She felt that “being a dual-citizen has always been pretty complicated because I never felt like I fitted in one place”. A feeling of alienation shared by William who explains that “on the one hand, it’s great to have both nationalities, but it also means I feel neither 100% French nor English”. Daniel concedes, “I see myself as not wholly Nigerian and not wholly British”. They struggle with not knowing where they really come from. Luckily, not everyone has identity issues: Ashini for example firstly met people who were “just curious about my origins”, but she also cherishes the idea of “belonging to two populations”. Daniel admits that “it is about embracing all aspects of both countries and looking to contribute to both”.
Being a dual citizen can be a real advantage, but it can come at a cost. It takes time to sustain two cultures and families can be far away. As Theodora relates, there is “a lot of questioning, wondering whether I was entitled to feel Italian” but also, “a wonderful solution of feeling both and being proud of it”. It is a real journey to understand who your true self is and where you fit in. The biggest question is “Where do we come from?”. Some would tend to answer that we are citizens of the world...
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