The ethical dimensions of remembering might usefully be thought of through the activity of recoll... more The ethical dimensions of remembering might usefully be thought of through the activity of recollection in both its contemporary connection to remembering and its archaic sense of re-collection. Since the function of memory turned to principles of what Aleida Assmann calls ‘reactivation, reformulation and reinterpretation’ (2011, 80) in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, recollecting is mostly taken to mean remembering. However, equally important is its archaic pre-sixteenth-century usage in the sense of re-collecting, which, in addition to meaning ‘recalling to memory’, had the implication of summoning up one’s spirits or courage, of gathering together after some kind of dispersal. This chapter will explore the acts of recollecting in the sense of remembering and re-collecting, of gathering and reassembling depleted resources and energies, to explore the significance and consider the ethical implications of memory following the violence of a protracted conflict. Recollection...
Since the early 1990s governments, and many citizens, have become increasingly alarmed by the num... more Since the early 1990s governments, and many citizens, have become increasingly alarmed by the number of refugees from the poorer nations of the world and by the changing face of refugees which has challenged the traditional image of ‘the refugee’ as a European subject who is fleeing religious or political persecution. State suspicions that the right to protection historically afforded to refugees was being abused by economic migrants led many Western governments to exercise hostile and increasingly exclusionary legislation to attempt to maintain their borders and to minimise disruption on political, social and economic levels. This situation has been exacerbated by a geopolitical condition in which concerns about exploitation have become enmeshed with fears of terrorism as part of a complex picture which challenges the integrity of what has been called the ‘holy trinity of nation, territory and citizenship’ (Stoianova, 2007: 22). None of this has taken place in a calm or measured way and rapid expansion in the scope and severity of government responses to the situation has created a sense of crisis which is in the interests of these governments to instigate and perpetuate, if only because they can then be seen to manage it.
‘We with Them and Them with Us’: Diverse Cultural Performances
Refugees, Theatre and Crisis, 2012
This final chapter will examine cultural expressions made by refugees themselves and is divided i... more This final chapter will examine cultural expressions made by refugees themselves and is divided into three parts, in which I’ll examine refugee arts festivals, refugee artists (particularly solo performers) and participatory theatre projects with refugees. Grouping diverse sets of practices in this way draws attention to questions of agency and control on the part of refugees. The examples show how the arts, especially performing arts, hold the potential to challenge preconceptions and validate refugee experience, some even pointing to a more hopeful and optimistic future for refugees and ‘host’ communities. Equally, they also demonstrate that the ‘problem’ of the refugee’s voice is ‘a deeply political problem, and one that cuts to the core of who counts as an authentic political subject’ (Nyers, 2006: 124). However, bearing in mind the ethics around gift giving and hospitality discussed previously, these activities also show how‘giving voice’ to refugees is not just a practical problem and not only a problem of rectifying unequal power relations. It is part of a deeply ethical practice and must be considered on this level as well.
An increasing number of stories told by refugees about their experiences are available in print (... more An increasing number of stories told by refugees about their experiences are available in print (Arbabzadh, 2007; Eggers, 2006; Kenney and Schrag, 2008; Maric, 2009; Moorehead, 2005; Schmid et al., 2003). However, it is only in face to face meetings with people seeking asylum and with refugees1 that it is possible to comprehend the subtlety of these stories and the huge range of emotions behind them; anger, fear, anxiety, jubilation, hope, guilt and mistrust are just a few of the more obvious ones. In order to claim asylum refugees require a credible story of individual persecution to convince the authorities of their right to stay in the country to which they have fled. Without this they are vulnerable to refusal and their right to stay comes under threat, making it likely that they will be returned to the country they have fled from. Refugees’ stories are troubling, troubled and troublesome. Troubling because they are hard to hear, especially if the listener enjoys the privileges of the West; troubled because persecution, trauma and suffering are essential elements of these stories, and troublesome because lives depend on their claims for truth. Studying the many theatrical ways in which refugee stories are presented compels the listener to understand how these stories function and operate.
François Matarasso A Restless Art: How Participation Won and Why it Matters Calouste Gulbenkian: Lisbon and London, 2019. 233 p. £10 ISBN: 978-1-903080-20-7
In order to appreciate the cultural forms that are attached to refugees it is necessary to unders... more In order to appreciate the cultural forms that are attached to refugees it is necessary to understand the legal context within which the definition of ‘who can be a refugee’ operates in the West in this particular historical moment. The first part of this chapter briefly deals with this question and I then go on to ask why refugees have been seen as especially significant since the early 1990s when the discourses surrounding them started to be couched in the language of crisis. Finally, taking up and exploring the concept of bureaucratic performance shows how, although tremendously significant, the language of international law is not adequate to the task of discussing the complexities of the ways in which refugees are represented in a wide range of cultural forms. Using ideas from Austin’s speech act theory I will indicate some of the contradictions inherent in ideas about identity in relation to refugeeness in order to pave the way for discussions about the ways refugees have been represented and how they have chosen to represent themselves through theatre and performance practices.
The three plays of Migrations: Harbour Europe (Genesis by Chiara Boscaro, La mer est ma nationa b... more The three plays of Migrations: Harbour Europe (Genesis by Chiara Boscaro, La mer est ma nationa by Hala Moughanie, and Terres Closes by Simon Grangeat) were the result of a Europe-wide call we launched in 2018 in collaboration with LegalAliens Theatre. The aim was to find texts addressing the theme of migration in an original and non cliched manner, avoiding the pitfall, noted by Chimamanda Adichie of “falling for the single story, reducing complex human beings to a single narrative”. The project was a collaboration between LegalAliens International Theatre, New Tides Platform and Migrant Dramaturgies Network, funded by Arts Council England.
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Papers by Alison Jeffers