This linguistic ethnographic study addresses two Ugandan women living in Istanbul as skilled migrants. The analyses of the participants' everyday language practices in the city aim to show how these two women construct and negotiate their identities as skilled migrants in Istanbul through their (non)deployment of languages in their multilingual repertoires.
Over the last two decades, İstanbul has been witnessing an influx of Sub-Saharan African migrants, showing considerable diversity in terms of national, ethnic, and cultural make-up, and social and economic status (Şaul, 2014). Although not readily represented in public discourse, there is a growing body of educated and skilled Africans who challenge the notion of Turkey as a transit country (Fait, 2013). These individuals open up new spaces of encounter for the monolingual Turkish society. Although they do not constitute the conventional "other" for Turks, they are also approached with various degrees of caution and distance in their work and social lives. The material consequences of these encounters range from unemployment to lack of access to resources other multilingual immigrants can reach, such as making friends in the neighborhood.
As part of the project "Contemporary Linguistic Diversity in Istanbul" (Boğaziçi University Grant Number: 19D06SUP2), this paper will focus on two multilingual Ugandan women living in İstanbul as skilled migrants. Presenting findings from a year-long linguistic ethnographic project, I will draw on data from observations, interviews, and audio-recordings of naturally occurring conversations in order to map out these encounters. By analyzing interactions, I will demonstrate how these two women construct and negotiate their identities as skilled migrants in Istanbul, and how this relates to the processes of (de-)capitalization in various workplaces in the city.
