Overview
In the twenty-first century, millions have been forcibly displaced due to ethno-religious conflicts, socio-political instability, and economic crises, turning migration into a global phenomenon. The traumatic realities of refugees – imprisonment, torture, loss, discrimination, and marginalisation – have increasingly become subjects of academic inquiry across multiple disciplines. Literature has also played a crucial role in representing these complexities, and offered fictionalised accounts of refugee experiences before, during, and after migration. This book critically examines contemporary refugee narratives, and highlights their potential to universalise the refugee experience. It argues that while contemporary refugee literature challenges dominant representations and reclaims subjectivity, it is also shaped by the Western literary marketplace, which refashions displacement into marketable narratives of resilience and redemption, tempering its radical potential and framing it within apolitical humanitarian discourse that prioritises empathy over structural critique. The book calls for refugee narratives to resist market-driven expectations and engage in epistemic disobedience, challenging dominant frameworks that dictate how refugee experiences should be represented, understood, and consumed.
Full Product Details
Author: Sercan Hamza Bağlama
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: Routledge
Weight: 0.490kg
ISBN: 9781032756318
ISBN 10: 1032756314
Pages: 166
Publication Date: 30 June 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Reviews
“Contemporary Refugee Literature is a capacious, penetrating, and astute analysis of the diverse refugee experiences captured in contemporary literature. While emphasizing the Syrian experience, it scrutinizes refugee stories from the 1970s Vietnam to the contemporary texts from Afghanistan, West Africa, and Syria. It also strategically situates refugee literature in the larger context of postcolonial studies. This book is an essential contribution to refugee literature studies that will continue to proliferate in the coming decades.” Abdul JanMohamed, Professor Emeritus, UC, Berkeley. “Sercan Hamza’s scholarly study of refugee narratives in English (and occasional translated work) is an important and timely contribution to a growing field of study. Sercan provides a compelling conceptual rationale for an exploration of a geographically diverse range of fictions, from bestsellers such as Hamid’s Exit West to lesser-known works like Abawi’s Land of Permanent Goodbyes, tracing points of contact but refusing the temptation to homogenise the experience of displacement. Contemporary Refugee Literature: Syria and Beyond is a nuanced, balanced, and sensitive work.” Peter Sloane, author of From Rupture to Refuge: The Coordinates of 21st Century Fiction and Life Writing (Liverpool UP 2025). “Insightful and powerful. Contemporary Refugee Literature: Syria and Beyond unpacks how literature captures the realities of displacement, identity, and resilience. Bağlama’s sharp analysis of refugee narratives from across the globe challenges dominant discourses and highlights storytelling’s role in advocating for justice. A must-read for anyone committed to understanding sociology and narrations of refugeeship in the modern era.” Mustafa F Özbilgin, Professor, Brunel University of London “Bağlama provides a useful and insightful overview of contemporary refugee narratives, particularly the (post)colonial histories and discourses that underpin present-day displacement. This compelling book will aid readers in understanding how literature shapes and is shaped by global migration and humanitarian ‘crises’.” Vinh Nguyen, author of Lived Refuge: Gratitude, Resentment, Resilience “Sercan Hamza’s Contemporary Refugee Literature: Syria and Beyond brings much needed depth to the shallow theoretical pool on which many studies of refugee writing have so far drawn. By arrogating the insights and energy of postcolonial theory into the field of contemporary refugee narratives, the book helps clear a path for the future politics of literary studies of displacement.” Hadji Bakara, PhD, University of Michigan
Author Information
Sercan Hamza Bağlama holds a PhD from Durham University, UK, and is currently an Associate Professor of English Literature at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Türkiye. His research focuses on Refugee Studies, Postcolonial Literatures, and Political Philosophy.
