The nation-state’s borders are porous and many move across them for many reasons, embodying their experience in poetry, fiction, film, memoires and performance.
Author
John Clammer, Professor of Sociology, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
The notions of borders and nations implies a form of enclosure: residence within a conventionally defined political entity, and a sense of identity tied to a place—often one of putative origin. The concepts of “border” and “nation” take on special and ambiguous meanings in such a situation: to be located within a nation defined by others, yet without citizenship; to be banned from crossing certain internal and external borders within or bounding the space which one inhabits.
The nation-state is not the only agency in making human history. Its borders are porous and many move across them for many reasons, embodying their experience in poetry, fiction, film, memoires and performance.
The “fictions” of exile are frequently much closer to the existential truth than the “history” that is supposed to embody and express the contexts in which displacement has occurred and, most importantly, been lived.
Published in: Writing in Times of Displacement
To read the full book chapter, please click here.
