“Physically We Are Apart, Mentally We Are Not.” Creating a Shared Space and a Sense of Belonging in Long-Distance Relationships

Orsolya Kolozsvari

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.11.4.05

Authors

Orsolya Kolozsvari College of Coastal Georgia, U.S.A.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.11.4.05

Keywords:

Long-Distance Relationships, Boundary Placement, Boundary Transcendence, Space, Grounded Theory Methods, Symbolic Interactionism

Abstract

As couples tend to be referred to as “being together,” long-distance partners, who spend most of their time apart and in diff erent spaces, might face a challenge delineating and validating their relationship. Through in-depth interviews with 20 couples in a long-distance relationship, this study explores how long-distance partners linguistically and symbolically mark the boundaries of their relationship, and also transcend any real or perceived gaps between distance and closeness in the process. While they rarely shared a physical space, my participants created joint socio-mental spaces, which enhanced their sense of belonging and helped to expand defi nitions of intimacy and space.

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Author Biography

Orsolya Kolozsvari, College of Coastal Georgia, U.S.A.

Orsolya Kolozsvari is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the College of Coastal Georgia (Brunswick, GA, United States). Her main areas of interest and research include long-distance relationships and marriages, transnational and inter-ethnic families, gender and sexuality, immigration, ethnicity, and cognitive sociology.

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