Paper short abstract:

This paper studies the self-identification of and sense of belonging for university-aged urban Papua New Guineans. The urban-educated youth in Papua New Guinea highlight the diversity of their cultural backgrounds as the defining character of their identities.

Paper long abstract:

In Papua New Guinea identity is customarily tied to the land your ancestors are from, so that social relations, norms, customs and traditions are all defined by the land. The distance placed between this land and the urban setting causes the urban population to have only little to no connection to their ancestral lineage and lands. This urban youth in PNG often grow up with an ethnically-mixed background, speaking English and the lingua franca Tok Pisin more conveniently than either one of their parents' tok ples of local languages.

In an urban setting their cultural identities become more fluid and multifaceted, with the youth promoting a more regional identity towards the provinces or sub-regions of PNG, or altogether taking on a national identity as Papua New Guinean. Identities vary or are accentuated according to affiliation, but a distinct collective identity of Papua New Guinean urban society is established. Travel and social media facilitate the broadening of social horizons, connecting PNG youth physically and virtually with other viewpoints. These other perspectives also help alter their perceptions of themselves as individuals and as Papua New Guineans, when seeing their cultures and their country through another lens.

A reflection by one of the informants on social change and development was "as generations pass while living in the urban, our cultures and traditions are dying". However, when asked what "being Papua New Guinean" meant to the students, the key words were always diversity, cultures, and languages, showing an immense pride in these descriptions.