Intercultural Communication, the Influence of Trauma, and the Pursuit of Asylum in the United States

Sarah C Bishop

doi:10.29333/ejecs/667

Authors

Sarah C Bishop Baruch College, City University of New York

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/667

Keywords:

narrative, forced migration, intercultural communication, evidence, trauma

Abstract

This project analyzes the roles of communication and culture in credible fear interviews and asylum hearings in the United States to elucidate how autobiographical testimonies enable and restrain asylum seekers in their efforts to establish themselves as deserving of protection. This work shows how trauma influences one’s ability to narrate their past and argues that culturally-bound storytelling norms negatively and unevenly threaten the outcomes of some asylum cases. I support this claim with evidence from oral history interviews with asylum seekers, immigration officers, judges, and attorneys.

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Author Biography

Sarah C Bishop, Baruch College, City University of New York

Associate Professor and Deputy Chair, Department of Communication Studies

Affiliate Faculty, Black and Latino Studies

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