Call for Papers for Special Issue on Migration in Literature by Journal of Migration Affairs, TISS: Submit by June 30

Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is a deemed university fully funded by the University Grants Commission, Government of India. TISS offers over 50 Master’s Degree programs from Mumbai, Tuljapur, Guwahati, and Hyderabad Campuses. Masters’ programs are offered in a range of socially relevant inter-disciplinary areas.

Overview

The 2020 Pandemic has foregrounded the otherwise neglected vulnerable lives of migrants, especially internal migrants, who live within the perimeters of the country but move from rural to urban areas not of choice but for very survival.

Migration, for several decades now, has been a site of inquiry and interest in academia. Existing studies on migration and migrants’ experiences are largely shaped by social scientists, with sociologists, economists, anthropologists, and political scientists debating the causes and effects of global migrations. However, migrant narratives in the form of conventional literary works as also the newly emerging genre of blogs/vlogs, films, and documentaries have the capacity to empathetically and effectively relate to the complex, multi-layered lives of migrants.

Certain literary narratives document stories of original inhabitants of countries, whose land, resources, cultures and economies stand ravaged by settler colonialism. The arrival of the colonizer/migrant and his subsequent settlement in the colony (both voluntary) inflicted immeasurable and often irrecoverable changes in the lives of the indigenous people of the colony/country. Migration, thus, is not unilateral but a phenomenon both multidirectional and inconsistent.

However, migrant narratives can also be sites of resistance and resilience. Such narratives may highlight fusion cultures; interchange of languages and experiences may manifest in cultural artifacts like new forms of music, poetry, food, new political ideologies to name but a few.

Call for Papers

Scholarly articles are invited for a special issue of the Journal of Migration Affairs (www.migrationaffairs.com) that might address, but are not limited to:

Literary Representations of Internal Migrants
Pandemic and the Migrant Experience in Literature
Class, Caste, Ethnicity and the Migrant Experience in Literature
Refugees, esp. Dislocated and Traumatised Women and Children in Literary Narratives
Violence and Migration in Personal Archives
Vlogs, Blogs, Photographs, Films and Documentaries of Everyday Life of Migrants
Literary Narratives of Borders, Citizenship and Ethnic/Religious Minorities
Gender, Sexuality and the Migrant Experience in Literature
Intersectionality and Experiences of Migration in Literature
Migrant Narratives of Resistance and Resilience
Nation, Identities, Religion and the Migrant Experience in Literature
Cli- fi, Climate Justice, and Climate Refugees in Literary Narratives

Submission Guidelines

The paper should be restricted to 6000-8000 words.
Articles under Commentary Section may contain 2500-3000 words.
The Journal of Migration Affairs is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal. This usual review process will apply.

How to Submit?

The papers may be sent to migration.affairs@tiss.edu with a copy marked to the Guest Editor, Dr. Shreya Bhattacharji (bhattacharjishreya@gmail.com).