The Other World: Diasporas and Their Memories of War

Abstract

Survivors of genocide living in diaspora face a discontinuity of history and memory that is forced upon them. Theirs is a history that hardly registers in the dominant discourses of history, trauma, and migration in the countries at either end of their journeys. It is not registered in their countries of origin because they left and it fails to make a mark in their countries of arrival because it is a past that is not shared by others. For women survivors of war living in diaspora, the politics of marginalization and an absence of representation of their losses complicate their ability to mourn. This paper offers a brief meditation on representations and framing of the trauma of women survivors of war living in diaspora, and the utility of academic and creative methods, namely Research-Creation, that allow us a re-framing of the narrative by creating a space for feminist solidarity and remembering.