We are very pleased with the new special edition of "Contemporary Women's Writing", coedited by Prof. Dr. Eglė Kačkutė, a researcher at the Vilnius University Faculty of Philology and Prof. Dr. Valerie Heffernan from Maynooth University. We are delighted that this prestigious journal, one of the best women's literary journals in the world, is opening up to geographical diversity and focusing on this particular theme of migration and motherhood in contemporary literature.
"The rich field of investigation within contemporary literary studies on motherhood has focused extensively on mothers’ own narratives of mothering. It has been concerned with a wide range of different maternal experiences in literature, such as ambivalent motherhood, single motherhood, both voluntary and involuntary non-motherhood, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual motherhood, yet representations of migrant mothers have attracted noticeably less attention to date. This special issue focuses on literary voices and representations of mothers who mother on the move, who mother in or through several languages, across linguistic and cultural barriers, or who negotiate non-motherhood in transnational settings. This special issue reflects too on the poetics of motherhood and mothering across literature in diverse cultures and languages", sais Professor.
We invite you to read the special issue featuring three contributions by Eglė Kačkutė: an introductory article and an interview with world-famous Quebec writer Kim Thúy co-authored with Valerie Heffernan, and a solo research article by Kačkutė analysing underlining reasons behind some migrant mothers‘ decision to not trasmit their mother tongue to their children.
The link to the publication: Volume 18 Issue 2 | Contemporary Women's Writing | Oxford Academic