Heterotopia and its role in the lived experiences of resettlement.

Abstract

Place, as a metaphor, can be experienced in different ways, existing or created. If created, space can be Foucault's 'placeless place', a utopia. A place that exists, however, can be a heterotopic space. A heterotopia is what we as individuals interpret it to be: it can be a space for reconstituting the self, rewriting the scripts of identity and placing the self within a context. This paper looks at the experiences of 18 Greek and Italian women who found a heterotopic space in which to build new friendships and establish themselves in a local community, creating and weaving their experiences into a tapestry that tells their stories of immigration and resettlement. [Author abstract]