Can cultural events provoke a sense of belongingness within South Asian individuals in Edinburgh?

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate whether members of the South Asian community can experience belongingness at cultural events. After examining the abundance of literature available on subjects such as festivals and sporting motivations, a lack of information was found between cultural events and belonging. In particular, within the South Asian community. The focus of this research was explicitly towards the community in Edinburgh The researcher applied a qualitative approach for in-depth data collection using semi-structured interviews. A total of six interviews took place with female South Asian participants. The findings identified that South Asian individual’s value cultural events as it allows them to: experience their culture, interact with various South Asian sub-communities and spend time with their family members. The results also found that cultural events are often preferred over ‘mainstream’ events as they tend not to involve elements such as alcohol, which is usually available at ‘mainstream’ events. Interestingly, a minority of participants revealed that South Asian environments sometimes result in them feeling dissatisfied due to the integration of different cultures. Although, with each participant possessing their own perceptions and life experiences, it does not suggest every South Asian member dislikes cross-cultural environments. Moreover, the findings recognised emerging themes, for example, the sense of being home and intragroup conflicts. It is hoped that with the results gathered from this projects, future researchers shall be able to utilise them for the purpose of further studying into this area. Within this dissertation, there are several aspects South Asian individuals think about when they attend cultural events. There are various feelings and emotions that come as a result of belonging to a South Asian community. With the availability of this research, it can provide event planners an insight into the desires of South Asian members. Therefore, this can encourage organisers to create such events tailored towards South Asian community.