How Can Literary Works Help Us to Understand the Politics of Migration?

Title data

Tchokothe, Rémi Armand:
How Can Literary Works Help Us to Understand the Politics of Migration?
Latest Thinking
2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10756

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Abstract in another language

The island of Mayotte forms part of the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean. While Mayotte is part of France and the EU, other islands of the archipelago like Grande Comore and Anjouan are not. In this video, REMI TCHOKOTHE analyzes the tensions that this situation has caused, focusing on how they have been expressed in literary works. Employing close readings of writings by Nassur Attoumani and Soeuf Elbadawi alongside critical geography and field observation, Tchokothe notes that, for these authors, historically established patterns of internal movement between the islands cannot constitute illegal migration. Noting how both authors employ the French language as a tool of resistance, Tchokothe highlights the vital, ongoing role that literature can play in the process of decolonization.