Transnational Relationships between Romanian Grandparents and Grandchildren: Materiality, Cultural Identity, and Cosmopolitanism

Abstract

This chapter explores transnational family relationships between grandchildren and grandparents as mediated by materiality. This analysis focuses on the nature of intergenerational familyhood and how the transnational communication gap between old and young is bridged between Romanian grandparents and their grandchildren, whether one or the others are abroad. From a materiality perspective, grandparents and grandchildren send correspondence, food, and gifts to each other that nurtures togetherness in the sense of concern, care, and love. Such exchanges work both ways geographically—conveying a sense of Romanianness abroad and a cosmopolitan openness towards home—and members of either generation (grandparents or grandchildren) may be among their recipients. Generational co-agency reflected in the exercise of voice and effective participation in decisions is highlighted concerning the rights of children and the elderly, specifically, their right to access their own cultures, the one of their original homeland and that of the migrant’s country of stay.