ABSTRACT
Even though the Bangladeshi migrants in the United Kingdom historically symbolise a pivotal essence of the global Bangladeshi diaspora, little is known about their linguistic and cultural identity formations. This chapter, theoretically based on post-structuralism, and methodologically, interview-based narrative analysis, explores how two Bangladeshi migrants in London construct their home-country language and cultural identities across the discursive communities in the host society. The findings show the diverse identifications of the two participants based on their varied possessions of social, cultural, and economic capital. In addition, the perceived status of the mainstream immigrant community in the host society also seems to play a decisive role. Overall, the study shows the complex interplay of capital and network to the fluidity of linguistic and cultural identity formations. It argues for bringing social class more prominently onto the scene to understand the heterogeneity of migrant identity construction in a socio-economically cognisant manner.
