Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.18193/sah.v4i2.152
Exports for your reference manager
Questioning Representation: Testimonials, Witness Accounts and Literary Migrant Narratives
[journal article]
Abstract This article rethinks contemporary approaches to asylum by examining literary accounts of human displacement to problematise representations and authenticity. A believable testimonial of asylum seekers' experience is key in the asylum application process and the pursuit of such truth by Europe's bor... view more
This article rethinks contemporary approaches to asylum by examining literary accounts of human displacement to problematise representations and authenticity. A believable testimonial of asylum seekers' experience is key in the asylum application process and the pursuit of such truth by Europe's border forces usually entails a celebration of authenticity. Yet, the emphasis on migrant testimonials as the definitive source in understanding the migration 'crisis' is deeply problematic. This essay argues that literary representations of displacement are equally valuable in helping us understand contemporary migration. This paper engages with the poetry of two exiled poets, Warsan Shire and Yousif Qasmiyeh, to illustrate the importance of literary accounts of migration, and to demonstrate that the intimate and traumatic stories of the borderline condition should be shared on migrants’ own terms, not by the demands of the European border forces. By drawing on John Coetzee's The Childhood of Jesus (2013) and its representation of the current approach to human displacement, this paper also explores the role of fiction to 'narrativize' the nuances of migratory experiences.... view less
Keywords
asylum seeker; migrant; refugee; political persecution; displacement; acceptance; narration
Classification
Migration, Sociology of Migration
Free Keywords
Authenticity (Philosophy) in literature; Migrant testimonials; Social acceptance
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 70-78
Journal
Studies in Arts and Humanities, 4 (2018) 2
Issue topic
Asylum Narratives
ISSN
2009-8278
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0