Immigration process and immigrant identity: example of Armenian immigrants in Lithuania

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Nacionalinis tapatumas; Imigrantai; National Identity; Immigrants.

ENIn Lithuania and in other different cultures, the issue of national identity was analyzed by both Lithuanian and foreign researchers, who emphasized certain traits and qualities typical of individual cultures. Due to the scale of emigration, the diversity in the labor market has been constantly increasing: Lithuanians have been leaving to work in other Western European and Scandinavian countries, while the Lithuanian labor market has been increasingly joined by immigrants from the Middle East and Asian countries. The Armenian community is one of the oldest ethnic minority groups that have lived in Lithuania since the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was famous for their jewelry art, textiles for manors, embroidery, and leather tanning. As for Klaipeda Region, the majority of the Armenian community came to it in the 1970s, stayed there after the restoration of independence in Lithuania, settled down, and started families. The Lithuanian national identity has been affected by other cultures, as well; especially ethnic minorities, therefore, the changes in the identity of the Lithuanian ethnic minorities are significant for the analysis of the changes in the Lithuanian identity. Nationality is what unites people of one nation, and not what separates them. However, the individuals who emigrate face a new culture, learn the new culture and language, and gradually forget their own principal national values and customs. This article raises a problem: how is the national identity of the Armenian residents in Lithuania changing? That is an important research problem aiming to evaluate the identity of Lithuanian residents of Armenian nationality; moreover, these changes in identity are turning into an essential issue of survival for both the Armenian and Lithuanian nations. [Extract, p. 143]

• Vadyba / Management
• Sociologija / Sociology