Migrant Representations

Abstract

Migrant Representations explores the depiction of migrant figure from the late 18th to the early 21st century through a series of contrasting, comparative case studies guided by two questions: how were the lives of migrants rendered in the past? how has the contemporary figure of the migrant been constructed historically, politically and aesthetically? The study contextualises analyses and compares accounts from migrants who have connections to Britain with parallel cases spanning South Asia, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. This analysis of life stories is complemented by the theme of investigation: how activists, journalists, social scientists have interpreted the lives and experiences of migrants. The interplay between self-representation and the investigation of migrant experience is discussed in the third section of the study, which gathers visual evidence of both self-representation and observer investigation. Migrant Representations explores the sense-making procedures (talking, writing, filming), social networks (family, community, diaspora) and cultural resources (history, language, genres) used by migrants and their observers. This study is not a comprehensive overview or ‘history of migration’; instead it acknowledges and investigates the varieties of migrant representation to recognize and celebrate the local and the individual. Using innovative analytic methodologies and a carefully patterned composition, Migrant Representations suggests creative new ways of writing history ‘from below’.