Narrative representations of migration can be more overtly symbolic or, perhaps, non-literal or metaphorical insofar as origin and destination are not strictly spatial or geographical categories, but, rather, categories of an ontological dimension such as identity. While migrations of identity, for example, entail the crossing of metaphorical borders, this panel wishes to explore how they also include a spatial dimension, insofar as they are articulated through spatial difference, across literal as well as symbolic boundaries and borders. Conversely, “literal,” that is to say, conventionally spatial migrations are (always?) themselves imbricated with symbolic migration, even when not explicitly thematized as such. What other forms of metaphorical migrations could be explored? How are spatial imaginaries policed? How is the body politic at play within such spatial dimensions?

We invite abstracts that address elements of space, migration, transformation or metamorphosis, and forms of policing. We are interested in issues of representation in literature, media, visual and auditory art, and film from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, history, comparative literature, film studies, performance studies, critical race theories, feminist and queer studies, and disability studies.