Instructor: Sandra Ponzanesi
Migration has always been part of human mobility and civilization. Yet migration is often perceived as a ‘crisis’, creating ‘stranger encounters’ (Ahmed, 2000) and producing ‘space invaders’ (Puwar, 2004). Liquid figurations that posit migration in terms of invasion, wave, flow, and tide are the order of the day. And yet in a digital age, boundaries and borders are becoming porous and virtual so that we now speak of the ‘connected migrant’ (Diminescu, 2008) subject to ‘high tech orientalism’ (Chun, 2006) rather than the displaced migrant.
How can we account for the shifts in migrant figurations across geopolitical borders, genres, and disciplines? How can we rethink migrant figurations through the voices and performances of migrants themselves?
In this seminar, we aim to investigate different theories and practices relating to migrant figurations. We will engage with theoretical texts in order to unpack the main figurations of diaspora, nomadism, and hospitality (i.e. Bauman, Derrida, Gilroy, Braidotti, Butler, and Spivak). More concretely, the focus will be on cinematic, literary, artistic, and digital practices that challenge and resignify dominant representations, from the viral image of ‘Aylan Kurdi’ to ‘migrant selfies’ debates, from Adichie’s Americanah to Hamid’s Exit West, from Ai Wei’s exhibition in NY to Banksy’s graffiti, from migrant films to documentary films (Fire at Sea, The Edge of Heaven, Nine Muses). Migrant figurations tend to stick to the ‘other’. How can we move beyond the sticky signs without losing the material histories of disenfranchisement?
