Transcribing Borders Elements of a Literature of Migration

FWF-Project V474-G23 / Elise Richter
Head of project: Elise-Richter-Stipendiatin Dr. Maria Oikonomou
Start: 1.3.2016
End: 31.10.2018

Transcribing Borders Elements of a Literature of Migration

The project examines literary texts which accrue from, deal with, or participate in the discursive field of MIGRATION. It expands previous research on this highly topical subject through the analysis of aesthetic/textual aspects, thereby shifting the focus from the socio-political ‘documentary’ of migration to its TRANSCULTURAL ARTISTIC FORM(ULATION)S.

The project’s case studies concentrate on MODERN GREEK LITERATURE (i.e., texts written by Greeks, by immigrants in Greece, by emigrants who write in the language of their host culture …) from the 19TH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT. They determine central motifs and figurations as well as stylistic or linguistic features to delineate the dominants and historical shifts of a Greek ‘migration literature,’ thus producing a basis for a COMPARATIVE APPROACH to other literatures. The selected literary field is particularly suited for the planned examination: it is part of a culture deeply affected by migration; it possesses close intertextual links to other European and Western literatures; its wide definition (see above) includes texts from various national or cultural spheres.

Based on extensive preliminary research, the analysis of recurrent elements in migration literature is configured by the key concepts of BODY AND SPACE: on the one hand, migration acts upon the body of the literary subject and produces somatic ‘deviations’ (hybrid, undead, animalized, mechanized, imperceptible bodies) which in turn affect the language and structure of the respective texts. On the other hand, Transcribing Borders explores the specific topographies of migration literature from closed, ‘striated’ territories to dynamic, ‘smooth’ plains. However, the two key terms do not exclude possible ‘non-corporal,’ ‘temporal,’ or ‘linguistic’ elements of migration literature – they provide a flexible framework which can be modified according to the concrete text analyses.

The project offers several INNOVATIVE ASPECTS: It goes beyond the common concepts of sociology or cultural studies by focusing on the positive, creative and aesthetic features of migration; it examines often neglected literary elements and motifs (e.g., the migrant body); it conducts the first comprehensive survey of migration in Greek literature; it considerably expands the historical and (mono)linguistic scope of comparable studies by its comparative and transcultural approach. In so doing, Transcribing Borders seeks to comprehend past and contemporary migratory processes through their aesthetic actualizations.