Definition: Expatriate
To begin with the basics, expatriate means one who lives in a country other than their birth country most typically by choice. Historically, the phrase seems to be romanticized by both those who see expatriates and expatriates themselves. For instance, Hemingway's A Moveable Feast is a work built off the experiences of the creative expatriates that made up the “rag-tag” group of artists that Hemingway found himself in league with while he worked in Paris, far from his home in America. Though it does address the issues of being a poor artist, most of the struggles of the novel are painted in light of profession, rather than displacement, while many of the achievements and beauties of the novel are centered around place and circumstance. Indeed, this seems to be the picture painted of the expatriate by scholars, historically. As Said pointed out in Reflections on Exile “expatriates may share in the solitude and estrangement of exile but they do not suffer under its rigid proscriptions” (Said, 181). He uses Hemingway and Fitzgerald as examples. Then, he goes on to suggest that, alternatively, “artists in exile are decidedly unpleasant” and that “James Joyce chose to be in exile: to give force to his artistic vocation” (Said, 182). As the only section in his essay that discusses choice, Said seems to focus most of it on artistic--particularly literary--figures, thus drawing a connection between travel of choice and romantic art.
However, it would be unfair to say that expatriates are all choosing to move because they’re aloof souls who search for other aloof souls to write novels about and be decidedly unpleasant with. As the article “The Secret of Immigrant Genius” by Eric Weiner notes, within “...the roster of history’s intellectual and artistic giants...many were immigrants or refugees, from Victor Hugo, W.H. Auden, and Vladimir Nabokov to Nikolas Tesla, Marie Curie, and Sigmund Freud…[and] the genius’s genius: Einstein” (Weiner, 1). Einstein, Nabokov, Hugo, Tesla, and Auden were all expatriates at one point in their lives and Nabokov even chronicled it in his own writing, much like Hemingway did. However, unlike Hemingway, none of these people wanted to leave their country but had to due to a variety of circumstances, from dictators to threat of imprisonment or death to politics. While it could be argued that these types of situations make up the minority of what is called an expatriate, the kink in the definition is present anyway and seems to be growing.
Though, neither of these examples really shows what the average modern day expatriate looks like. Expatriate has become a very political term over the past decade. Like the literary, romantic, artistic expatriates, the bulk of modern expatriates move for work but not quite artistic and romantic. A wide variety of articles from a variety of sources and countries outline exactly how difficult the issue of expatriate workers is in a political sense. Elham Pourmohammadi states the problem in an article from Times of Oman by simply titling his article “Oman's expat workforce rise 167 per cent over 10 years”. He goes on to point out Oman needs their expatriate workers because they have so many large scale projects that require a number of skilled workers. Not only that but “in March 2014, the population stood at 3,987,033, comprising 2,226,033 Omanis and 1,761,000 expatriates” (Pourmohammadi, 1). The story is the same for many countries in the area which has caused political strife in many ways. For instance, in a column for the New Times, Paul Frobisher Mugambwa points out that taxation of expatriates is particularly tricky to navigate in countries that don’t have specific laws or guidelines for how to treat a non-permanent but working resident. In Rwanda, they’re struggling to create a law that finds balance on this issue, as many expatriates work in companies in Rwanda, therefore “the expatriate will be deemed to be sourcing income from Rwanda, and that income is therefore subject to tax in Rwanda” but a person is not a permanent citizen of Rwanda until that person “is present in Rwanda for periods aggregating to 183 days (six months) over a period of twelve months” which many expatriates won’t meet and therefore couldn’t be taxed. Rwanda found balance in this by corporate loophole but that’s subject to change as expatriate numbers continue to grow. (Mugambwa, 1). An article from the Arab News by Abdulateef Al-Mulhim outlines the conundrum of Saudi Arabians who “think of the expatriates as dangerous people or a threat to the society” but points out that “the irony is that the more we complain about their number in the Kingdom, the more expatriates we bring in” (Al-Mulhim, 1).
On the surface, expatriate seems like a romantic, artistic term and, historically, it seems to follow that bent. However, in modern times, the word has changed to mean one who leaves a country to work elsewhere without becoming a permanent citizen and, as such, has caused a lot of political issues and strife within various communities. Even historically, the word is not without its dark side, as many expatriates were forced to leave their homes due to duress rather than true choice. While there are many other types of travel and travel related vocabulary that may be of a more serious or pressing note, being an expatriate also comes with issues and it’s not the romantic, artistic choice that it would appear to be.
Al-Mulhim, Abdulateef. "We Bring the Expatriates Then Complain about Them." Arab News. 29 Sept. 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1964. Print.
Mugambwa, Paul Frobisher. "Professional Chat: Taxation of Expatriates." The New Times. 04 Sept. 2011. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Pourmohammadi, Elham. "Oman's Expat Workforce Rise 167 per Cent over 10 Years." Times of Oman. 9 June 2014. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Said, Edward W. Reflections on Exile: And Other Essays. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2000. Print.
Weiner, Eric. "The Secret of Immigrant Genius." The Wall Street Journal. 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.
