Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 In a Different Voice : ‘A Letter from Manus Island’ as Poetic Manifesto
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'On 9 December 2017, The Saturday Paper published ‘A Letter from Manus Island’, an essay and manifesto written by Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish journalist and refugee being held on Manus Island with hundreds of other men. Boochani writes in a radical, ‘poetic’ voice that makes the ordinary strange again, as he talks of love, the interdependence of human beings, and the strength to be derived from acts of solidarity. He challenges not only the prevailing vituperative tenor of contemporary public rhetoric, but also the dehumanising discourses within which humanitarian practices in Australia, and in the west more broadly, operate. This paper is written as a letter, in direct reply to Boochani’s own. It is inspired by Lilie Chouliaraki’s critique of contemporary practices of humanitarianism and the ways in which politics, the market and technology have transformed ‘the moral dispositions of our public life’. It explores the unsettling effects and provocative insights presented by Boochani’s poetic voice – the refugee as human subject and agent rather than victim or object of pity (or hate). The paper thus reflects on our conventional responses to the ethical call to solidarity from vulnerable subjects and imagines how we might respond otherwise.'  (Introduction)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies Shifting The Terms of Debate : Speaking, Writing and Listening Beyond Free Speech Debates vol. 32 no. 4 2018 14342144 2018 periodical issue

    'When the alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopolous toured Australia in late 2017, he attacked familiar targets – Muslims, feminists and much of the mainstream media – as well as ridiculing Aboriginal art as ‘crap’ and ‘really shit’. Demonstrating the transnational scope and ubiquity of contemporary racisms, the UK-born, US-based and internationally-known ‘free speech’ advocate had little difficulty in identifying the key targets of vilification in Australia. This theme issue identifies the deep limitations and the violent consequences of the longstanding and constantly developing ‘free speech debates’ typical of so many contexts in the West, and explores the possibilities to combat racism when liberal values are ‘weaponized’ to target racialized communities.'  ( Tanja DreherMichael Griffiths Introduction)

    2018
    pg. 518-526

Works about this Work

Manus Prison Poetics/our Voice : Revisiting ‘A Letter From Manus Island’, a Reply to Anne Surma Behrouz Boochani , 2018 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies , vol. 32 no. 4 2018; (p. 527-531)

'Even if there were only one person reading my writings beyond this island, I would continue writing for that one reader.

'Dear Anne,

'This here is a pledge, a personal commitment. I made this pact with myself five years ago, during a time when no one knew where Manus Prison was. And now, after five years, I honestly cannot hide my feelings of joy. I cannot contain the satisfaction and pleasure it gives me to know that there are people in the public sphere and among intellectual circles who critically analyse what Australia is doing on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and the Republic of Nauru (Repubrikin Naoero) from philosophical and historical perspectives. After numerous years of writing from Manus Prison, my work has slowly entered public discourse and scholarly debate. I have discovered people who draw on these writings as foundations for serious academic research, and for me, this is the beginning of new initiatives and future approaches.'  (Introduction)

Manus Prison Poetics/our Voice : Revisiting ‘A Letter From Manus Island’, a Reply to Anne Surma Behrouz Boochani , 2018 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies , vol. 32 no. 4 2018; (p. 527-531)

'Even if there were only one person reading my writings beyond this island, I would continue writing for that one reader.

'Dear Anne,

'This here is a pledge, a personal commitment. I made this pact with myself five years ago, during a time when no one knew where Manus Prison was. And now, after five years, I honestly cannot hide my feelings of joy. I cannot contain the satisfaction and pleasure it gives me to know that there are people in the public sphere and among intellectual circles who critically analyse what Australia is doing on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and the Republic of Nauru (Repubrikin Naoero) from philosophical and historical perspectives. After numerous years of writing from Manus Prison, my work has slowly entered public discourse and scholarly debate. I have discovered people who draw on these writings as foundations for serious academic research, and for me, this is the beginning of new initiatives and future approaches.'  (Introduction)

Last amended 22 Aug 2018 13:23:12
518-526 In a Different Voice : ‘A Letter from Manus Island’ as Poetic Manifestosmall AustLit logo Continuum : Journal of Media and Cultural Studies
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