Why do things matter? Kurdish material culture and identity

This essay focuses on the dynamic role of material culture in reflecting indi- viduals’ identities. It aims to highlight the importance of making and remaking material objects and examines the emotional impacts of objects. It also places on the individual’s identities by drawing on the interplay of “posthumanism” and “nonessentialist” standpoints. For this study, three research participants, two male and one female, narrated their stories and explained how their iden- tities had been influenced by the objects they used and the places they visited. The analysis in this essay is part of a larger project that looks at identity nego- tiation and navigation within a group of Iraqi Kurdish migrants in the United Kingdom. The findings reveal a robust association between humans, material possessions, and places. Hitherto, neither persons nor objects can withstand alone since the two function together and are intertwined in many respects. They are associated with deep emotional investment and powerfully influence an individual’s identity, emotions, and well-being. To the participants, objects are material capsules that make places “sticky”; they are a connecting prod- uct that links the feeling, sites, and landscapes from the past in establishing a better future.