Transitions from Exile to Academia: Experiences and Identities of Refugee Women Teachers from the Former Yugoslavia

Abstract

Western academic literature frequently represents refugee women through the lens of deficit, particularly as powerless victims of war, rape, domestic violence, and mental disorder. This representation is, however, limited in scope and problematic in its colonising nature. This article explores the experiences of three refugee women teachers from the former Yugoslavia who immigrated to Ontario and Quebec during and after the Yugoslav wars (1991–1995) and whose narratives remain largely outside the master narrative of exile and settlement research. These women's stories challenge the image of a victimised and submissive refugee woman in the Canadian context and bring to the centre of the discourse the image of a refugee woman who is an aspiring academic. Through narrative inquiry, the ‘storying stories' model, transcript poems and personal narrative of the researcher this article explores the issues of gender, forced migrations, and academic identity.