M(Other) tongue: exophony, subjectivity, and migration in contemporary literature

• Grant number: 25/02957-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: November 14, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Comparative Literature
• Principal Investigator: Márcio Orlando Seligmann-Silva
• Grantee: Ana Carolina de Carvalho Mesquita
• Supervisor: Julie Rak
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Alberta, Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/10716-8 - The language that bleeds: exophony, subjectivity, and exile in contemporary literature, BP.PD

Abstract

The present project, linked to my postdoctoral research at IEL-UNICAMP, aims for a research internship focused on literary exophony and migration studies at the University of Alberta, Canada-home to a range of scholars and groups connected to the theme. The weakening of the monolingual paradigm, intensified with decolonial and globalization processes, challenge the ties between language, territory, and identity. Drawing on W. Benjamin, J. Derrida, and J. Lacan, this study aims to examine how adopting another language shapes poetics that defy monolingualism, particularly in contexts of trauma and migration, investigating a possible double bind (necessity and impossibility) in exophonic writing. Focusing on the practices of Yiyun Li, Ailton Krenak, and Gloria Anzaldúa, it will consider how exophonic writing's translational processes raise questions of otherness, challenging national literature and fostering transcultural paradigms-which makes this research relevant in the context of global migration. (AU)