Generational model of return emigration: returned generation, migrated generation, generation zero

Abstract

This paper offers an interpretative model of return migrations, based both on the socialization of migrants and on the shape of their linguistic repertoire. The case study is offered by returns to Irpinia from the English cities of Bedford and Peterborough. The results of the survey highlight the difference between members of the returning generation and those who were born in England and moved to Irpinia as adults. On a linguistic level, in particular, the former are dominant in dialect, the latter in English. On a cultural level, the former return to the place where they were born, the latter move to a country that is in many ways unknown.