'This special issue of the Journal of Intercultural Studies is titled ‘Performing Identity in the Era of COVID-19’, and co-mingles our current critical inquiries into the pandemic meaning of ‘performance’’ with our earlier research in global diasporas. While invoking our previous historical context of ‘the era of COVID-19’, we shift focus from migratory liminality to the many ways that we can re-think the notions of performance, performing, and performativity (and the nonperformative) in the context of the global pandemic. Herein, we understand, in the broadest sense, the meaning of ‘performance’, which is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as ‘how well a person, machine, etc. does a piece of work or an activity’. As one might imagine, different cultures define ‘performance’, in various ways, ranging from staged performances to employees’ ‘performance reviews’ to social performances in everyday life. Most recently, upon the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, The Atlantic published a story titled, ‘No One Performed Britishness Better Than Her Majesty: She understood intuitively what an extraordinary force cultural power could be’ (2022). The story’s gripping headline underscores how nationality, duty, patriotism, stewardship, family values, and so on, could be globally performed through racialized privilege even as millions perform grief on a global stage still reeling from COVID-19.' (Editorial introduction)
