Call for Papers

Mothers, Mothering and Trauma/Intergenerational Trauma

Edited by Lamees Al Ethari, PhD and Maria D. Lombard, PhD
March 1, 2024: Submission of 250–400-word abstract

This edited volume on motherhood and trauma builds on Marianne Hirsch’s concept of postmemory, which states that the “generation after” [will] “grow up dominated by narratives that preceded their birth, whose own belated stories are evacuated by the stories of the previous generation shaped by traumatic events that can neither be understood nor recreated” (Hirsch 22). This volume will attempt to capture some of those very narratives and belated stories that Hirsch refers to in her rendering of the concept of postmemory, especially within the context of displaced motherhood. The chapters that this volume seeks to collect can be scholarly, creative, or visual.

In the narratives chosen for this study, relational ties and generational story-telling/story-building are crucial in the construction of self-identity as they establish a sense of history and belonging for the new(er) generations. On one hand they present a personal narrative, while on the other, a communal narrative in which the experiences of a people is brought to light. While historical frameworks or references may be useful as context, the collection aims to examine experiences shaped by contemporary concepts of motherhood and disconnected/de-fragmented motherhood impacted by displacement and trauma. Areas and stories examined can be from the perspective of the mother, the mother/child relationship, the mother/society dynamic, etc. The editors are particularly interested in submissions that contextualize how Hirsch’s concept of postmemory is reflected in their work.

Possible topics might look critically at (but are not limited to) generational experiences of trauma and displacement in relation to:
* race, culture, class, and sexuality
* narratives about or by migrant and/ or refugee mothers
* rhetorics of refugee/displaced motherhood
* politics and policy on the refugee family
* family separation, family resettlement
* refugee children’s literature and the mother figure
* narratives or research on adoptive mothers, reproductive health care (access to ultrasounds, pre/post-natal care, family planning, etc.)
* activism and community action/re-action  
* communication, social media, and telling motherhood stories online

Hirsch, Marianne. Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory. Cambridge:
    Harvard UP, 1997.

Timeline for CFP

March 1, 2024: Submission of 250-400 word abstract of your chapter and a 50-word bio.

April 1, 2024: Acceptance notifications will be sent to contributors.

15 August 2024: Accepted and complete chapters due (6,000 words maximum with MLA format and references)

Submissions and questions should be sent to:

Dr. Lamees Al Ethari

lalethari@uwaterloo.ca

Dr. Maria Lombard
maria.lombard@northwestern.edu

Editor Bios

Lamees Al Ethari, PhD
Lamees Al Ethari holds a PhD from the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo, where she has been teaching creative writing and literature since 2015. She is a nonfiction editor with The New Quarterly and a co-founder for The X Page: A Storytelling Workshop for Immigrant Women. She is in the process of completing an autoethnographic monograph titled, Patterns of Telling: Women’s Autobiography in the Diaspora, which is a critical exploration of women’s narratives of displacement. She has published, From the Wounded Banks of the Tigris (2018) and Waiting for the Rain: An Iraqi Memoir (2019), in which she reflects on her experiences of the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, the violent aftermath, and her migration from home. Her poems have appeared in About Place Journal, The New Quarterly, The Malpais Review, and the anthology Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here.

Maria D. Lombard, PhD
Maria Lombard is the assistant dean for academic affairs at Northwestern University in Qatar. Her research focuses on writing studies, with interests in second-language writing pedagogy, minority and gendered voices, and travel writing. Her scholarly publications include refereed articles and proceedings, as well as book chapters, on belonging, displacement, and motherhood. Her recent edited volume, Reclaiming Migrant Motherhood: Identity, Belonging, and Displacement in a Global Context (Lexington Books, 2022) examines the representations and lived experiences of migrant, refugee, and otherwise displaced mothers in literature, film, and original ethnographic research.