Volume: Ports of Entry: Language in Caribbean Migrations
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Deadline for abstract submissions: February 15, 2025
Information: When Caribbean migrants cross transnational borders and arrive at new "ports of entry", they often cross linguistic borders, as well. Several recent volumes have explored the issue of regional migration by focusing on the complexities of borders, ecological crises, or the sociopolitical, racial, and economic experiences of migrants. Ports of Entry seeks to expand the understanding of this intra-regional migration to include the crucial role of language in creating cultural connections and social relations in this mobility.
Migrants are essential to studies of language. Often on the frontlines of language contact, they are among the primary agents of linguistic change. The scholarly approach to the Caribbean – and how it is shaped by migration – therefore requires a more nuanced understanding of the role that language plays in the cross-border exchanges of migrants, refugees, tourists, and cultural productions. By uniting scholars who approach the Caribbean from many methodological approaches, this anthology will shed light on a wide array of ways that language has shaped the lived experiences and decision making of peoples and families who migrate across borders within the greater Caribbean.
We are interested in scholarly articles from across disciplines that address (but are not limited to) the following:
- How have migrant-receiving Caribbean countries extended (or denied) linguistic rights to newcomers via national language policies?
- How do Caribbean migrants use language to form solidarities in new places?
- How have migrants used their daily linguistic practices to challenge colonial histories?
- What are creative ways that Caribbean migrants have used to maintain ties to their native language in situations of contact?
- How has Caribbean tourism impacted language learning and educational policy?
- What tensions arise within Caribbean families in diaspora over language maintenance?
- How has language use in Caribbean music been used to unite diasporic communities?
- How does language variation impact issues of authenticity in diasporic communities?
- How do sociopolitical factors (such as race, documentation status, and threat of deportation) affect the linguistic choices of Caribbean migrants and their descendants?
Please submit 250-word abstracts by February 15, 2025 to medford@tulane.edu