Trauma and Care: Abandoned Memories in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Abstract

My research explores my Egyptian family’s migration from Egypt to Saudi Arabia and Canada. It examines the role of photography to document memories of family reunions, migration, and stories. The objective of my study is to foster dialogue and raise awareness about the lived experiences of an Egyptian family from the 1950s to contemporary times. The methodology used in this series is open-ended interviews and textual analysis with family members: my mother, father and maternal grandfather. My research aims to reconstruct the historical effects of migration and the lived experience of an Egyptian family in the diaspora. It looks into intergenerational psychological trauma, its several interfaces and role in familial relationships, and modernity's emergence in Egypt. I aim to explore transnational identities through storytelling and photography that capture historical and contemporary movements—the role of these movements in producing complex versions of identities, belonging and trauma.