The Subjectivity of Forced-migrant in Poems of and by Refugees

Nurhadianty Rahayu

doi:10.24071/joll.v20i1.2398

The Subjectivity of Forced-migrant in Poems of and by Refugees

Nurhadianty Rahayu

Abstract

Refugeesperilous experiences force them to flee home for safety. Their arrival from home country tothehost country is not only often reduced to beastatistical number in factual reports but also seen as threats to national well-being. The study aims to provide the argument that poems provide a symbol of resistance towards refugeesgiven fate,and offer a platform for them to create their authentic version of knowledge.Poems are chosen to be analyzed in this study as they can mediate the refugeesunique experiences and their struggle to cope with the changing condition. The study argues that poemsof and by refugees can serve as strategic means of preserving memories that connect them with their past,which shape their present andconstructan alternative subjectivity against objectification and stereotypes pinned to them. Poemsanalyzed in this researchareHomebyWarsanShire,The IcebreakerbyYovankaPaquetePerdigao,andEmpathyby A.E. Stallings. Those excerpts areinterpretedthrough Feminist Refugee Epistemology (FRE),which according to Espiritu (2018),reveals the hidden political forces within the site of intimate domestic interaction in each refugees unique experiences and queer sociality.The study concluded that poemsof and by refugees couldfacilitate the forced-migrantsaspiration and create alternativeknowledgeas opposedto their common objectification in mass-media reports.

Keywords

feminist refugee epistemology; refugee; subjectivity

Full Text:

PDF

References

nna-Leena Toivanen. (2017). The Unattainable Mediterranean: Arrested Clandestine Odysseys in Sefi Attas Twilight Trek and Marie NDiayes Trois femmes puissantes. Research in African Literatures, 47(4), 133. https://doi.org/ 10.2979/reseafrilite.47.4.08.

Boochani, B. (2018). Manus prison poetics/our voice: revisiting A Letter From Manus Island, a reply to Anne Surma. Continuum, 32(4), 527531. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10304312.2018.1501796.

Cahill-Booth, L. (2013). Walcotts sea and Caribbean geomythography. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 49(3), 347358. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2012.703621.

Castellani, C. (2019, October). On the Universal Urgency of Immigrant Literature. Retrieved from https://lithub.com/on-the-universal-urgency-of-immigrant-literature/.

Chouliaraki, L., & Zaborowski, R. (2017). Voice and community in the 2015 refugee crisis?: a content analysis of news coverage in eight European countries A Content Analysis of news coverage in Eight. International Communication Gazette, 79(67), 613635. https://doi. org/10.1177/1748048517727173.

Dahlgren, P. (2016). Moral Spectatorship and Its Discourses: The Mediapolis in the Swedish Refugee Crisis. Javnost - The Public, 23(4), 382397. https://doi. org/10.1080/13183222.2016.1247332.

Foust, R. (2018). Poetry Sunday: Empathy by A. E. Stallings. Retrieved January 14, 2020, from https://womensvoicesforchange. org/poetry-sunday-empathy-by-a-e-stallings.htm.

Gallien, C. (2018a). Forcing displacement: The postcolonial interventions of refugee literature and arts. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54(6), 735750. https://doi. org/10.1080/17449855.2018.1551268.

Gallien, C. (2018b). Forcing displacement: The postcolonial interventions of refugee literature and arts. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54(6), 735750. https://doi. org/10.1080/17449855.2018.1551268.

Gallien, C. (2018c). Refugee Literature: What postcolonial theory has to say. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54(6), 721726. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2018.1555206.

Haven, C. (2017). Crossing Borders. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from https://www. poetryfoundation.org/articles/144785/crossing-borders

Hopkins, L. (2009). Why narrative? Reflections on the politics and processes of using narrative in refugee research. TAMARA: Journal of Critical Postmodern Organization Science, 8(8), 135145. Retrieved from http://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=61867944&site=ehost-live.

Hyndman, J. (2010). Introduction: The Feminist Politics of Refugee Migration. Gender, Place, and Culture, 17(4), 453459.

Le Espiritu, Y., & Duong, L. (2018). UC San Diego. SIGNS, 43(3), 587615. https://doi.org/10.1086/695300.

Lewis, D., Rodgers, D., & Woolcock, M. (2008). The fiction of development: Literary representation as a source of authoritative knowledge. Journal of Development Studies, 44(2), 198216. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380701789828.

Lubkemann, S. C. (2008). Culture in Chaos: An Anthropology of the Social Condition of War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Said, E. W. (2013). Reflections on Exile and Other Essays (ebook). Retrieved from www.grantabooks.com.

Saint, L. (2012). Reading subjects: Passbooks, literature, and apartheid. Social Dynamics, 38(1), 117133. https://doi.org/10.1080 /02533952.2012.700178.

Sakr, R. (2018). The more-than-human refugee journey: Hassan Blasims short stories. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54(6), 766780. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2018.1551269.

Sellman, J. (2018). A global postcolonial: Contemporary Arabic literature of migration to Europe. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54(6), 751765. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2018.1555207.

Shields, T. L. (2018). Collisions: History, home, and storytelling. Cultural Dynamics, 30(12), 312. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0921374017751767.

Stallings, A. E. (2018). Like. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Stan, C. (2018). A life without a shoreline: Tropes of refugee literature in Jenny Erpenbecks Go, Went, Gone. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 54(6), 795808. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2018.1551272.

Surma, A. (2018). In a different voice: a letter from Manus Island as poetic manifesto. Continuum, 32(4), 518526. https:// doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2018.1468414.

Swarr; Lock, Amanda; Nagar, R. (2010). Introduction: Theorizing Transnational Feminist Praxis. In Critical Transnational Feminist Praxis (pp. 122). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Warsan Shire. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from https://www.facinghistory. org/standing-up-hatred-intolerance/warsan-shire-home.

Yovanka Paquete Perdigao. (2015). The Icebreaker. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from https://brittlepaper.com/2015/11/ icebreaker-yovanka-paquete-perdigao-african-poem/.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/joll.v20i1.2398