The Culture of Migration

Politics, Aesthetics and Histories

Migration has been a phenomenon throughout human history but today, as a result of economic hardship, conflict and globalization, a higher percentage of people than ever before live outside their country of birth. Increased international migration has resulted in more movement of information, traditions and cultures. Migration thus acts as a catalyst: not only of social change, but also for the generation of new aesthetic phenomena. The Culture of Migration explores the ways in which culture and the arts have been transformed by migration in recent decades – and, in turn, how these cultural and aesthetic transformations have contributed to shaping our identities, politics and societies.

Chapters address the politics involved in artistic representations of migration and issues concerning the relations between migration, art and society; promises, problems and questions concerning the aesthetic dimensions of works of art that deal with issues of migration; and the issues of history, memory and temporality in relation to migration, such as the influence of migration on historical narratives of national identity, the representation of memorials, questions and problems owing to incorporating migrant stories and cultural memories into 'national heritage' and histories. Making an important contribution to the emerging cross-disciplinary field of migration studies, this book examines contemporary cultural and artistic representations of migration and gathers new perspectives on the subject from across the disciplines of the arts and humanities. Renowned and emerging scholars in the field of migration, culture and aesthetics – among them the distinguished scholars Mieke Bal, Nikos Papastergiadis, Roger Bromley and Edward Casey – address the broader themes and underlying discourses of recent studies in migration and culture.