Negotiating performance

As newcomers navigate the transitions they experience following migration and work toward integration, what was particularly striking about the participants‟ description of this process was their sense of insecurity or uncertainty in regard to the way they performed their occupations, and by extension, their identities within particular settings. Many were uncertain not only about how to act within particular situations (e.g. how to „be‟), but were also unsure of how others would behave, or how others would perceive them. Thus, as they moved and were located within different fields of practice, they lost the stability and predictability associated with habitus that had guided their performances back home. This is essential to consider when drawing on both Goffman and Bourdieu. One‟s habitus, while individual in nature, is not synonymous with „agency‟. Rather, it is one‟s embodiment of structure (field) that becomes enacted through one‟s dispositions. Because it is developed over time, habitus is not immediately alterable when people change contexts. Thus, people must alter their

performances in order to manage the impressions they seek to make until the taken-for-granted aspects of the host society are learned and begin to feel natural to them, if ever. Ultimately, the performance of one‟s identity may no longer be innate as it was prior to migration, given the resulting transition to new fields of practice.

Makane‟s experience provided an ideal example for illustrating this point. Despite having been in Canada longer than any of the other participants, and who by some standards might be considered successfully integrated (e.g. owned a home, had a full time job, owned a car, was functionally bilingual in both official languages), Makane still did not fully feel he belonged here. Having moved to Canada from Eastern Europe, he described how much more comfortable he felt with people from that area who shared his same habitus:

[F]ranchement, je comprends, l‟homme de l‟Europe de l‟est, après un mot, deux ou trois, je peux deviner la suite ou je vais en venir. Je peux extrapoler avec un certain degré de, une probabilité très élevé qu‟est ce qu‟il veut dire. Tu sais, mais, les gens d‟ici, d‟ici, ah, je ne suis pas très sûr sur mes façons d‟agir, de faire, de parler. Si c‟est la façon de faire à leur façon, je ne suis pas sûr. À 90, plus que 90% je ne suis pas sûr.

[F]rankly, I understand, the man from Eastern Europe, after a word, two or three, I can guess the rest or I will come to it. I can extrapolate with a certain degree of, a very high probability what he means. You know, but, the people from here, from here, ah, I‟m not very sure of my way of acting, of doing, of talking. If it‟s the way of doing in their way, I‟m not sure. At 90, more than 90% I‟m not sure. He gave the example of a potluck barbeque dinner organized by co-workers, in which everyone was to bring their own meat to grill and beverages to drink. He described this practice as „culturally incomprehensible‟ from his point of view, whereby the host should either provide the food and drink, or as a collective, those attending could contribute money to purchase food and drink for the festivity. The idea of bringing his own food to someone else‟s home was not a part of his habitus. As a result of feeling out of place and not always being certain of how to appropriately perform, he did not attend all work functions. Yet, unable

to avoid all social situations where he may be uncomfortable, he did emphasize the need to learn to perform appropriately within particular contexts (e.g.

workplace) and to a certain extent did so by “agir comme ils agissent et non comment tu perçoit les choses.” [acting how they act and not how you perceive things.]. By trying to function in this way, he explained that he was always looking back to evaluate his actions and questioning his way of doing. As a result, he argued that he did not see a situation in which he could not adapt himself. Placing the onus on himself to adapt reflected his argument that people can act on themselves but not on others and that it is easier to change one‟s own behaviour than to change that of others‟.

Like Makane, Paul viewed himself as adaptable to different situations. He felt this was advantageous to his integration because he described himself as being able to live in a variety of situations: “je m‟adapte, je ne suis pas exigeant, je m‟adapte selon le lieu, même au [pays], parce que, j‟ai des amis, de très bonnes positions, et puis je n‟ai pas oublié aussi la petite communauté là, donc, de temps en temps, je sais m‟accorder.” [I adapt, I am not exacting, I adapt according to the place, even in [country], because, I have friends, in very good positions, and I didn‟t forget also the little community there, from time to time, I will get along.]. He felt that his past experiences of having performed within varied fields of practice to a certain extent enabled his ability to adapt his performances within Canada. These examples reflect Goffman‟s argument that people tend to

perform according to social norms and dominant discourses in order to manage other people‟s impressions of them. As suggested by Makane‟s example of the potluck, however, impression management becomes increasingly difficult when one is unfamiliar with the host society‟s norms and discourses (i.e. „scripts‟) for expected and appropriate performances.

While some participants, such as Makane and Paul, took it upon themselves to alter their performances in order to reflect the expectations of others, Halima seemed to approach the idea of impression management differently. She hoped

the way she performed her identity would change the impressions that others had of her. She emphasized this point in relation to her practice of veiling. For

instance, while she insisted that most people were very polite toward her, she did feel that her niqab was a primary obstacle to her labour force integration:

Tu ne vas pas trouver un travail. Parce que tu sais, quand j‟ai fait une entrevue au [employeur possible], je n‟étais pas seul, il y a beaucoup de candidats avec moi. J‟ai vue, quand tu compare, pourquoi il va choisir une femme avec tout noir comme ça, et c‟était la position de secrétaire, réceptionniste. Pourquoi il va choisir ah, il y a d‟autre avec des cheveux, du make-up et tout ça, pourquoi ils vont choisir ça.

You won‟t find a job. Because you know, when I had an interview at [potential employer], I wasn‟t alone, there were a lot of candidates with me. I saw, when you compare, why will they choose a woman with all black like that, and it was the position of secretary, receptionist. Why would they choose ah, there are others with hair, makeup and all that, why would they choose this.

Yet, rather than removing her niqab to fit the dominant characteristics of a model employee, she sought to challenge how veiled women are categorized. She told me she insisted on setting a good example on a daily basis in order to help change people‟s perceptions of Muslims. For instance, she described being in a store when someone‟s child pointed at her and called her a ninja, saying that people are often initially shocked by her appearance. She went on to explain that once she began communicating with people and showed them that she was „normal‟ just like everyone else, it „opened doors‟ with people. She further stressed that this was an especially important role for her, given that she was in the minority as a fully veiled woman.

While the participants performed in particular ways to manage the impressions they made in Canadian society, they also had to contend with changes to the way they were perceived by those they left behind. For instance, some of their family members abroad had made comments about the change in jobs the participants experienced in Canada, as many were still struggling to secure full- time employment despite having had successful careers back home. Marie

explained that the experience of migration can create a distance, not just geographically, but also personally between people:

Même avec des amis aussi, tu les appelle, tu sens qu‟il y a un grand écart, un grand changement. […] donc tes ambitions ou ton mode de fonctionnement, tu vois qu‟il y a vraiment un grand changement […], surtout par rapport à mes amis qui sont resté là. Ou même aux amis qui sont ici, ça dépend vraiment des endroits que tu fréquente. Donc l‟influence du milieu ça joue beaucoup. Even with friends too, you call them, you feel that there is a big divide, a big change. [...] so your ambitions or your mode of functioning, you see there is really a big change [...], especially in regard to my friends that stayed there. Or even my friends that are here, it really depends on the places that you frequent. So the influence of place is really important.

Some also performed in particular ways during their interactions with family members or friends abroad in order to manage such shifting impressions. Gilberto mentioned that he did not tell his family the „whole truth‟ about his experiences in Canada. For instance, he might tell them he was employed, but would not specify whether it was a full-time or part-time job. He explained that it was difficult for people abroad to understand the challenges newcomers faced and that if he discussed these, they might simply encourage him to return home where his life had been more stable. However, were he ever to return home, he did not want this upheaval of his life resulting from migration to be in vain:

[J]e déménage au Canada, puis là, je suis au Canada, je ne peux pas dire, ok là j‟étais ici un an, je vais retourner dans mon pays. J‟ai dit non, j‟ai laissé mon travail, j‟ai vendu toute mes choses, j‟ai laissé beaucoup de choses là-bas, et je ne peux pas dire, ok, ça me convient pas le pays, ça me convient pas la langue, ça me convient pas rien ici, je retourne dans mon pays. […] J‟ai dit, je ne peux pas faire ça. Au moins je veux retourner avec ah, des études ou au moins avec l‟argent.

I am moving to Canada, and now, I am in Canada, I cannot say, ok now I‟ve been here a year, I will return to my country. I said no, I left my work, I sold all my things, I left a lot of things there, and I cannot say, ok, this country doesn‟t suit me, the language doesn‟t suit me, nothing here is for me, I‟m going back to my country. [...] I

said, I cannot do that. I want to return with at least ah, some education or at least with money.

As will be discussed in the following sections, the way people are categorized during social interactions is not fully within their control, despite their efforts to manage the impressions they make through their performances. As Gilberto‟s comment suggests, people‟s social and personal identities are also connected to their various forms of capital.