Paper long abstract:

In the current age it is increasingly normal to imagine a present and a future for oneself and for one's children elsewhere from one's proper birth location (village, community, tribe, nation) a present/future that differs from the present and past of the previous generation and that shifts away from former models of action and configurations of values, which are perceived as backward, frustrating, unsatisfactory, etc. Memory (and tradition) as main foundations of one's self, is also increasingly accompanied (and at times even replaced) by mimesis (and imagination) of other models of action and consumption, other configurations of values, which are viewed as modern, more attractive, convenient, gratifying, etc. Imagination and mimesis become basic principles for identity construction and the elaboration of existential projects in a global horizon without any borders (at least in one's imagination). Such a hypothesis will be presented by significant quotations from ethnography and literature.