Generational compression and the shifting anchors of identity: a photo-elicitation nostalgia narrative study of identity construction across three generations in an Oroqen family.

Drawing on the mutual constitution framework in cultural psychology, this study explores how three generations of an Oroqen family construct ethnic identity through nostalgic narratives elicited by family photographs. The Oroqen, one of China's smallest ethnic minority groups, with a population of only 9,168, offer a rare example of rapid cultural change. In the span of only three generations, or roughly 80 years, they moved from a forest-based hunting and gathering way of life into full participation in a digital society. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the analysis examined in-depth interviews with five members of the family and identified three core themes. First, the main anchors of ethnic identity shifted across generations. For the grandparents, Oroqen identity was rooted in embodied memories of hunting and gathering. The parent generation centered it on preserving traditions that were fading away. The grandchild generation, by contrast, reconstructed identity through selective symbols and digital communication. Second, the link between language ability and ethnic identity changed across generations, moving from essentialist claims to pragmatic compromise and then to more fluid forms of reconstruction. Each generation also bore its own emotional burden in this process. Third, digital media created new possibilities for the grandchild generation to reshape ethnic identity. This gave rise to an intergenerational dynamic in which a decline in lived experience was accompanied by a widening range of communication. These findings extend the mutual constitution framework by showing how generational position and media environments shape identity construction. The study also highlights the value of photo-elicitation interviews for capturing generational differences in identity construction in culturally endangered contexts.