No. 8 (2014): The Customs and Clothing of Migrants in the Americas and Australia
The focus of this volume are the customs, behaviors and clothing of migrants which convey extra-literary social and ethical values. As expressions of individual and collective identity, clothes not only elicit a re-inscription of ethnic origins and a bridging of different worlds, but also become emblems of migration. As sources of consolation and unease, of pride and rejection of belonging, they allow migrant individuals to wear their new and old identities in order to feel integrated into the current reality. Moreover, they foreground another important aspect of migrant literature. The articles in the volume tackle the topic from various angles, by intertwining different forms of writing, spanning different periods and covering an ample geographical space that comprises the Americas and Australia. Together they create an intertextual web wherein complex relationships between the works, languages and multiple forms of writings come into play. A special section is dedicated to artistic creations which are based on the migrations of the word amidst emotions and the never-ending search for self. These creative works involve an implicit change in meaning from the intellectual self to the emotional self.
