Gazing on xenophobia: issues of foreigness and (non)belonging

Abstract

Scholarship in the context of 'home' and 'belonging' has shown that these are referential terms that have shifting and fluid meanings. However, 'home' for the foreigner in a strange host (sic) society takes on meaning heightened by multiple issues.

Working through symbolic interaction theory, this paper uses stories or short narratives culled from semi-structured interviews with a small group of Black African foreigners and attempts to proble what home and belonging means in a foreign space and context. The notion of home is explored within the context of the foreigners experiences of xenophobia and violence in protest of their presence in the country.

Symbolic interaction theory states that meaning is subjective, yet deeply connotative of intersubjective meanings and is thus used in the paper, to contextualise the shifting intersubjectivities of the foreigners. Anecdotal theory which seeks to theorise personal narratives is additionally used to bring further insights into the foreign migrants' lived experiences.

Findings reveal that personal experiences of xenophobic violence have created lingering disillusionment about the so called Rainbow Nation, robbing many foreigners of any real sense of belonging in the host space, as well as emphasising the temporariness of the 'borrowed' home. Findings also show that this entrenched the sense of 'difference' of the foreigner.

Keywords: xenophobic violence, foreigner, migrant,fear, home, (politics of) belonging, othering