Spoken Worlds Dictionary/Lexicon

Micronarrative is a story, opinion, or narrative told from the perspective of an individual or a group, often marginalised. Micronarratives take into account subjective emotions, points of view, or personal history. In social studies, micronarratives are often used to present and illustrate multiple perspectives, shedding different lights on the same problem. Oftentimes, micronarratives are opposed to macro-narratives, which aim to describe the history of a problem from an objective point of view, often from a broader historical perspective.

Microaggression is a subtle behaviour that, at first glance, seems unimportant or harmless but conveys negativity, judgement or superiority towards the recipient of the message. Microaggressions are often used in conversations with marginalised people, creating hostile environments and feelings of exclusion. An example is asking an Asian person where they are really from. These situations can imply that immigrants and diasporas don't belong in the country. Another typical example is the over-enthusiastic complementing of immigrants' English language usage. This reaction can mean that it's uncommon, rare and surprising that an immigrant can use grammatically correct English.

Language Porosity. When a language is porous, it's open to change, transformation and evolution. It is a category often explored by immigrant artists, who can create new linguistic connections, contradictions, or structures by navigating between two or more languages.

Xenoracism is a form of prejudice performed by members of a particular racial group towards other members of it. This term is often used to describe prejudice against white Eastern European immigrants, often considered culturally inferior by white Britons.

Decentring means moving away from the dominant (Western) position in favour of including perspectives and points of view that were previously not considered (micronarratives). It can mean that when an English curator organises the exhibition of an Indian artist, they invite an Indian co-curator or researcher to provide their own point of view on the artist's practice. An Indian curator can offer an in-depth insight into understanding the artist's practice by providing information not easily accessible to the English curator. Working together, they can achieve a well-rounded understanding of the artwork.

Liminality. To be in a liminal position means to be in-between. Immigrant and bilingual artists often find themselves in a liminal position because they can't fully associate themselves with their new home or their original home country. The position of liminality can cause positive feelings, such as freedom, but also negative or ambiguous ones, such as the feeling of displacement.

Cover Images

Front Cover: Mona Hatoum, Remains of the Day, Fondazione Prada, Milan, 2019 (detail). Image courtesy of Misha Gordon / Alamy Stock Photo

Back Cover: Yasmyn Nettle, Digital Collage. Fragments of textiles. Unknown date. Yale University Art Gallery.O. Necropol.: Tomb 11; Gold leaves, Necropolis.1934-1935. Yale University Art Gallery. Portrait of a Gentleman. Attributed to William Russell Birch. 1755-1834. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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