Unexpected departures: experiences of grief and epistemic injustice within the Tamil community

This narrative based qualitative research study examined how grief (vastly defined) and epistemic injustice has been existent in the Tamil community since their time of mass arrival from Sri Lanka to Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The narratives shared by three Tamil participants discussed direct experiences of the civil war, loss, adapting to a new way of living, and describes how their knowledge has been taken up in Canada. Narrative research was conducted through the use of semi-structured interviews in order to better understand participant perspectives. Anti-colonial and anti-sanist frameworks were used to theorize the research, alongside literature on epistemic injustice. Data analysis involved thematic analysis. The findings highlighted the experiences of the war, adapting to living in Canada, overcoming barriers, racism, and resilience in the Tamil community. Keywords: Tamil, civil war, Sri Lanka, community, grief, loss, epistemic injustice, experiences