Right, like I said before, my name is Jesse de Leon. I’m a Master’s student in Social Anthropology conducting my research on Filipino bloggers. I’m what’s known as a 1.5 generation immigrant: someone who immigrated as a child old enough to remember the country they were born in. In my case, I immigrated to Canada from the Philippines when I was ten years old. I consider myself as having grown up in both countries. I know that if I had grown up entirely in the Philippines, I would be a different person than what I am today.
It’s therefore understandable that I’m interested in issues of migration, transnationalism, and identity. I’m particularly interested in what identity is like for other Filipinos who have migrated. Do they consider themselves as being completely Filipino? Or do they see themselves as being Canadians now (or American, or Australian, or so on)? But it’s not just migrants that I’m interested in, but also their children. How Filipino do they feel? Where is home for them? How do they relate to being Filipino and to being Canadian (or American, etc.)?
Now, this is all well and good, but lots of other people have examined these issues. What am I doing that’s new? Well, I’m investigating Filipino migration and identity, but I’m investigating them through blogs. Specifically, I’m looking at how Filipino bloggers talk about these issues. I’m also looking at how Filipino bloggers don’t talk about these issues. There’s a lot more to what I’m doing, but this is the essence of my project.
And that, dear reader, is what I’m up to.