Description:
Addressing forced migration as a global challenge, this book draws on multi-sited research to examine the arts and cultural dimensions of refugee contexts. Through narrative-driven accounts, it highlights refugee agency, creativity, and community-building, challenging reductive stereotypes and foregrounding refugees' contributions to both home and host societies.
Brief description:
Lisa Gilman is Professor of Folklore and Director of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University, former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of American Folklore, and former Fellow with the Refugee and Displacement Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson Center. She published The Dance of Politics: Performance, Gender, and Democratization in Malawi (Temple University Press 2011), My Music, My War: The Listening Habits of U.S. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (2016), the co-authored Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork Methods Handbook (Indiana University Press 2019), and co-edited Africa Every Day: Fun, Leisure, and Expressive Culture on the Continent (Ohio University Press 2019) and UNESCO on the Ground: Local Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage (Indiana University Press 2015). She produced the documentary Grounds for Resistance and the Dzaleka Art Project.
Review Quotes:
"This is an excellent and important book that makes a significant contribution to the studies of migration, refugees, resettlement, and the creativity of people facing forced migration." - Amy Shuman, The Ohio State University
"This is a rare and vital contribution to the field --one that bridges scholarship, creative nonfiction, and advocacy. I am so impressed, inspired, and deeply supportive of this work. It is a much-needed addition to the growing literature on art, trauma, and forced migration." - Fadi Skeiker, Fordham University