Copyright
Grace Aneiza AliPublished On
2020-09-29ISBN
Language
- English
Print Length
232 pages (xiv+218)Dimensions
Weight
Media
OCLC Number
1202477200LCCN
2019394527BIC
- AG
- JFFN
- JFS
BISAC
- SOC008000
- SOC007000
- SOC028000
LCC
- F2381
Keywords
- migration
- migration narratives
- women
- Guyana
- Guyanese women
- from the 1950s
- visual exhibition
- essays
- artworks
- memoir
- creative non-fiction
- poetry
- photography
- art and curatorial essays
- notion of homeland
- accountability
Liminal Spaces
Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora
- Grace Aneiza Ali (editor)
Liminal Spaces is an intimate exploration into the migration narratives of fifteen women of Guyanese heritage. It spans diverse inter-generational perspectives – from those who leave Guyana, and those who are left – and seven seminal decades of Guyana’s history – from the 1950s to the present day – bringing the voices of women to the fore. The volume is conceived of as a visual exhibition on the page; a four-part journey navigating the contributors’ essays and artworks, allowing the reader to trace the migration path of Guyanese women from their moment of departure, to their arrival on diasporic soils, to their reunion with Guyana.
Eloquent and visually stunning, Liminal Spaces unpacks the global realities of migration, challenging and disrupting dominant narratives associated with Guyana, its colonial past, and its post-colonial present as a ‘disappearing nation’. Multimodal in approach, the volume combines memoir, creative non-fiction, poetry, photography, art and curatorial essays to collectively examine the mutable notion of ‘homeland’, and grapple with ideas of place and accountability.
This volume is a welcome contribution to the scholarly field of international migration, transnationalism, and diaspora, both in its creative methodological approach, and in its subject area – as one of the only studies published on Guyanese diaspora. It will be of great interest to those studying women and migration, and scholars and students of diaspora studies.
Reviews
['Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora'] is one of the most comprehensive overviews on the Guyanese diaspora ever published. Being the only South American nation in which English is the official language, Guyana is considered part of the Anglophone Caribbean, and many Guyanese migrate to North America. The majority of the population, however, speak Guyanese Creole as a first language. The photographs, letters, installations, video stills and digital collages interspersed among the narratives allow a glimpse into biographies and artistic practise, while providing crucial information about the life-courses of Guyanese women from different generations. Conceived as a visual exhibition on the page, 'Liminal Spaces' brings incredibly timely insights on the Guyanese diaspora to the fore. Through artworks, it is able to cover more ground than a classic scholarly analysis would be able to, while making it accessible to different audiences. As one of the only contributions of its kind, its importance cannot be overstressed.
Eric Otieno Sumba
"How Artists From Guyana Are Thinking Through The Liminal Spaces Of Migration". GRIOT, 2020.
Additional Resources
Contents
Part I: Mothering Lands
(pp. 21–24)- Grace Ali
Surrogate Skin: Portrait of Mother (Land)
(pp. 25–38)- Keisha Scarville
Until I Hear from You
(pp. 39–50)- Erika DeFreitas
Electric Dreams
(pp. 51–64)- Natalie Hopkinson
- Serena Hopkinson
- Grace Ali
The Geography of Separation
(pp. 69–82)- Grace Ali
Transplantation
(pp. 83–90)- Dominique Hunter
Those Who Remain: Portraits of Amerindian Women
(pp. 91–108)- Khadija Benn
When They Left
(pp. 109–118)- Ingrid Griffith
Part III: Transitions
(pp. 119–122)- Grace Ali
So I Pick Up Me New-World-Self
(pp. 123–134)- Grace Nichols
Revisionist
(pp. 135–140)- Suchitra Mattai
Memories from Yonder
(pp. 141–146)- Christie Neptune
A Trace | Evidence of Time Past
(pp. 147–160)- Sandra Brewster
Part IV: Returns, Reunions, and Rituals
(pp. 161–164)- Grace Ali
Concrete and Filigree
(pp. 165–178)- Michelle Joan Wilkinson
A Daughter’s Journey from Indenture to Windrush
(pp. 179–188)- Maria del Pilar Kaladeen
Keeping Wake
(pp. 189–202)- Maya Mackrandilal
Postface: A Brief History of Migration from Guyana
(pp. 203–204)- Grace Ali
Introduction: Liminal Spaces
(pp. 1–20)- Grace Ali