Research: Constructing and negotiating queerness in migration: the case of South Asian communities in Italy
Valeria Infantino, Curriculum Indian Subcontinent and Central Asia, 38° Cycle
Research project abstract:
Even though recent developments in Queer Migration Studies showed that queerness and migration actively contribute to shaping each other, research on South Asian diasporas in Italy today tends to ignore this perspective and employ an implicitly heterosexual and heteronormative lens.
Starting from this background, this project intends to contribute to the state of the art both on South Asian diasporas in Italy and on queer migration more broadly, by investigating the relationships between queerness and migratory paths from South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan) to Italy. The main focus of the research will be on how non-heteronormative sexual and/or gender identifications and expressions are produced, negotiated, and expressed in a context of migration and diaspora, with self-narratives by LGBT+ migrants from South Asia – not to be read as transparent windows into some “inner truth” of queer migration, but rather as tools for negotiating, enacting, and constructing “identity” – as the primary object of analysis.
Research interests: queer and gender studies, South Asian migrations and diasporas, politics of representation and self-representation through narrative, contemporary South Asia
Curriculum Vitae:
11/2022 - today: PhD student in Civilizations of Asia and Africa at the Italian Department of Oriental Studies (ISO), Sapienza University of Rome
Title of the project: Constructing and negotiating queerness in migration: the case of South Asian communities in Rome
Supervisor: Prof. Mara Matta
10/2019 - 07/2022: M.A. in Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Sapienza University of Rome
Curriculum hindi language
10/2016 - 12/2019: B.A. in Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Sapienza University of Rome
Curriculum hindi language