President John F. Kennedy believed the U.S. to be a nation of immigrants, an opinion that influenced the country’s rhetoric and public feelings for decades. But opinions changed after 9/11. Immigration developed into a national security issue and one of the most hotly debated political talking points, openly reflecting the xenophobia entrenched in U.S. history.
Genre Migrations argues that authors Jhumpa Lahiri, Valeria Luiselli, Ling Ma, Claudia Rankine, and Gary Shteyngart address immigration in both their content and innovative literary form. These authors highlight the relationship between immigrant identities and others, exposing borders—and genres—as porous and malleable constructs. Through their revisionist aesthetics and rhetorical engagements, these writers challenge the logic of globalization and xenophobia and condemn blind adherence to the limiting conventions of genres and life.
“A beautiful meditation on the activist power of contemporary literature, with a focus on surpassing the boundaries of genre and the boundaries of the literary world. With her poignant and eloquent analysis, Naydan asks readers to expand their definitions of not just immigrant fiction, but literary fiction altogether.”—Samina Gul Ali, Kean University
