Introduction: Dislocation and Writing

Abstract

Dislocation, whether enforced or self-inflicted, can in many ways be a disaster for a writer who immigrates to a new country but does not experience a sense of belonging. However, a greater creative capacity can also be cultivated, and immigration can even become a source of creative expression, once the individual in question experiences transnational existence and the feeling of belonging. Writing is a cognitive process that is replete with the personal insights of authors as they put their world under the microscope. It can reflect the experience of settling in a place away from home, or even of being at home, when characters re-evaluate their perceptions of their expected life journeys after experiencing the un-likelihood of surpassing the ties of location.