The Role of Visual Media in Shaping Cultural Identity in Migrant Communities

Abstract

This article examines the role of visual media in shaping cultural identity among migrant communities in the context of increasing global mobility. It argues that visual communication—including photography, video production, and digital media—functions not only as a tool of artistic expression but also as a mechanism of identity reconstruction and social integration.
The study explores how visual storytelling contributes to the preservation of cultural memory, the negotiation of hybrid identities, and the formation of collective narratives within diasporic environments. Particular attention is given to the transformation of creative professionals, whose work operates at the intersection of media production and social impact.
The article proposes a conceptual framework for understanding visual media as a form of cultural infrastructure that influences both individual and societal adaptation processes in transnational contexts.

Keywords:

visual media, migration, cultural identity, visual communication, diaspora, storytelling, social integration, creative industries

Author:

  • Artur Sukhoiarskyi ORCID: 0009-0002-8018-813X

Peer Reviewers:

  • Yurii Savchuk — ORCID: 0009-0005-3147-5425
  • Aleksandra Voronina — ORCID: 0009-0004-3155-9824

DOI: pending

Full Text (PDF)

The_Role_of_Visual_Media_in_Shaping_Cultural_Identity_in_Migrant

References

  • Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. University of Minnesota Press.
  • Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural production: Essays on art and literature. Columbia University Press.
  • Castells, M. (2010). The rise of the network society (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Couldry, N. (2012). Media, society, world: Social theory and digital media practice. Polity Press.
  • Hall, S. (1990). Cultural identity and diaspora. In J. Rutherford (Ed.), Identity: Community, culture, difference (pp. 222–237). Lawrence & Wishart.
  • Hannerz, U. (1996). Transnational connections: Culture, people, places. Routledge.
  • Hryhoriev, O. (2020). Media as a field of conflict. The Magazine Interview Ukraine.
  • Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York University Press.
  • Madianou, M., & Miller, D. (2012). Migration and new media: Transnational families and polymedia. Routledge.
  • Papastergiadis, N. (2010). Cosmopolitanism and culture. Polity Press.
  • Pink, S. (2013). Doing visual ethnography (3rd ed.). Sage.
  • Vertovec, S. (2009). Transnationalism. Routledge.
  • Wessendorf, S. (2014). Commonplace diversity: Social relations in a super-diverse context. Palgrave Macmillan.