Migration by Boat: Discourses of Trauma, Exclusion and Survival

At a time when thousands of refugees risk their lives undertaking perilous journeys by boat across the Mediterranean, this multidisciplinary volume could not be more pertinent. It offers various contemporary case studies of boat migrations undertaken by asylum seekers and refugees around the globe and shows that boats not only move people and cultural capital between places, but also fuel cultural fantasies, dreams of adventure and hope, along with fears of invasion and terrorism. The ambiguous nature of memories, media representations and popular culture productions are highlighted throughout in order to address negative stereotypes and conversely, humanize the individuals involved.

Lynda Mannik is a Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology at York University. She is the author of Photography, Memory and Refugee Identity: the voyage of the S.S. Walnut, 1948 (UBC Press 2012); Reclaiming Canadian Bodies: Representation and Visual Media (Wilfrid Laurier Press, 2015); and Canadian Indian Cowboys: Rodeo, Representation and the RCMP at the Royal Easter Show, 1939 (University of Calgary Press, 2006).