How do young Armenians in Los Angeles express their identity in their everyday lives? During the last few years, digital culture has come to play an increasingly prominent role in the LA Armenian community, especially among the second generation youth. Instead of traditional symbols of identity, these young Armenians create and share digital images (memes) and videos (vines) that reflect on life in the LA Armenian community with a sense of humour. This phenomenon will be examined in the seminar through a comparison with the forms of identity propagated by the older, institutionalized diaspora.
Rik Adriaans is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology of Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. His dissertation reflects on the role of media and popular culture in the relations between Armenia and the Armenian diaspora in Los Angeles.
