Through the example of some second generation French of Cambodian origin who decided to settle in the country that their parents left thirty years ago, this article explores the question of identity. Instead of considering the latter through 'strategies' of abstract 'social actors', the article explores the more instantaneous impacts of their arrival on self-representation. Thus, it aims to show how the identity process is linked to the French ideal of integration on the one hand, and to the objectification of some embodied memories on the other.