Abstract
The present study concentrates on the lifestyles and experiences of British-born young Tamils, and explores various components of their identities. Not many sociological studies have been conducted on the Tamil community in Britain. The study approaches its subject area through combining detailed ethnographic and interview research on young British Tamils with a consideration of wider arguments relating to ethnicity, migration, diaspora and youth. The findings are organised in terms of the four key themes of traditional culture, friendship, media, and politics, each one combined with relevant conceptual and empirical theorisations. Diasporic theories help to understand broader trends relating to various aspects of identity and these contribute towards the development of theories on minority youth inter-culture and new ethnicities. Specifically, the study focuses on British-born young Tamils based in London, aged between 16-29. The ethnography focuses on their cohesiveness as a group, their relationship with parents and traditional Tamil culture and with other elements of British society, including White British youth culture and ethnic minority youth cultures. This qualitative study deploys research techniques together with interviews and ethnographic observations to examine current understanding of cultural identities, ethnicity and community. The analysis highlights the complex and dynamic nature of the identities of the young respondents and their experiences of being British-Tamils. The notion of hybridisation starts to figure quite strongly with the development of intercultural forms of mixed identities relating to the maintenance of traditional culture, friendship patterns and media interests. Interestingly however, young Tamils’ political engagement with recent political events has developed a greater awareness of their Tamil identity and politicised youth ethnicity than before. The implications may be observed in terms of a greater impact upon their future cultural orientations - an increase in Tamil media usage, more interest in their mother tongue and the development of connections with the transnational Tamil community.