Description: This edited collection applies kinship as an analytical concept to better understand the affective economies, discursive practices, and aesthetic dimensions through which cultural narratives of belonging establish a sense of intimacy and affiliation.
Review Quotes:
"Ethnicity and Kinship in North American and European Literatures is a gem of a book. Skilfully weaving together a range of approaches and orientations to kinship, this collection blends theory and emotion with a result that is satisfying to both heart and mind. This anthology disrupts static notions of family and kin and puts them back together in dynamic and affective ways. This book is essential reading for scholars of literary studies and anthropology but will enrich the scholarship of academics and students in an array of other disciplines." May Friedman, Associate Professor, Ryerson University
"Rieser and Schultermandl have assembled a spectacular range of essays on the social, legal, aesthetic, and affective practices through which kinship and belonging are mobilized. Collectively, the articles explore the transformation of intimate ties into kinship communities often premised on the exclusion of immigrant, racial, and sexual others. Working across anthropology, history, race studies, and queer theory in its explorations of relational bonds, Ethnicity and Kinship in North American and European Literatures is a must read for anyone interested in the topic." David L. Eng, Richard L. Fisher Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania