Multispecies (Co)migrations Across the Mediterranean and Cyprus: Elif Shafak and Christy Lefteri

Drawing on the Overlap (2020) project, this paper examines how overlapping human and non-human migrations shape Mediterranean routes. Analyzing Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees (2021) and Christy Lefteri’s Songbirds (2021), the study uses a sympoietic framework (Haraway) to parallel gender inequality faced by Asian women workers and minorities with the victimization of songbirds in Cyprus. This intersection challenges borders, citizenship, and rights, focusing on exploitation and trauma. The analysis calls for response-ability toward social and environmental justice through a multidisciplinary approach.