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• Beyond the Public Sphere: The Household as a Site of Cultural Persistence and Adaptation

  55-61

  Yossri Jallouli

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  The paper examines the idea that the Tunisian migrants in Hungary are capable to preserve the feeling of home by means of conducting their domestic activities. The point is that the sphere in which cultural contingency is the most prominent is not the community life in general, but the very household where the traditions of the cooking process, family life, and ritual activity are practiced every day. Based on a questionnaire survey (N = 100) and 25 semi-structured interviews, these domestic practices remain remarkably stable and are passed to younger family members. It is observed in the analysis that daily activities aid greatly to the continuity of cultures even when the family has migrated; food preparation, hospitality, and the ritual celebrations are ordinary and routine practices that introduce cultural information and principles into the family environment. The results show how domestic heritage helps the migrants to maintain cultural continuity as they adjust to the Hungarian society. This way, they become part of the host culture without losing their identity back home because they remain involved in domestic affairs. In brief, daily domestic activities, create a hybrid experience of integration that upholds cultural identity and adopts new environments.