Abstract
This article explores the importance of seeing phenomena observed in migration research in a larger context than has been previously done. I focus in particular on dismantling generational, cultural, and temporal boundaries when discussing migrant trajectories because those constructions may impair our understanding of the field. Taking thirty-two interviews with German migrants and their descendants living in contemporary Helsinki as a starting point, I depict the interconnectedness of those two groups as it showed in my material that neither of the two can be seen without the other. The birth of German migrants' children often caused a re-positioning of those migrants in terms of their own Germanness. In turn, the way in which the members of the descendant generation negotiated their self-identification depended highly on their upbringing. I argue that a profound grasp of migrants' narratives becomes possible only when researchers bear in mind the big picture, which includes both historic and social circumstances.
