Abstract
Amid the mass exodus of Nigerians in search of better futures abroad, a movement colloquially termed Japa, a silent but significant emotional and cultural crisis unfolds at home. This paper introduces and critically explores extalgia, a newly theorised concept denoting the grief, creativity, and resilience of those left behind in the homeland. Drawing on transnationalism theory, ethnographic interviews, and cultural analysis, the study amplifies voices too often rendered invisible in migration discourse: parents, siblings, partners, and peers navigating life in the wake of departure. Extalgia, emerging from the intersection of exodus and algos (grief), reveals not just emotional loss but also innovative acts of meaning-making, from ritual practices and food exchanges to music, memory, and digital intimacy. This research argues that the left behind are not passive sufferers but active participants in transnational affective economies, whose agency complicates the simplistic binaries of origin and destination. By centring their experience, the paper challenges dominant framings of migration and recasts the humanities as uniquely equipped to examine the intimate, affective, and cultural aftermaths of global mobility. In theorising extalgia as both suffering and symbolic resistance, this paper contributes to redefining the human in times of dislocation, proposing a more inclusive and interdisciplinary understanding of migration’s cultural and emotional geographies. It is precisely in such unsettled terrain that the humanities reveal their transformative power: connecting emotional life with culture and transnational identity to illuminate what it means to remain when others leave.
Presenters
Chiamaka Rita AkpuogwuResearcher, Linguistics and Cultural Studies, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
EXTALGIA, MIGRATION, AFFECT, CULTURAL STUDIES, TRANSNATIONALISM
