Lampedusa and the migrant crisis: ethics, representation and history
Lampedusa and the migrant crisis: ethics, representation and history
The tiny Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean has become notorious in the early twenty-first century through a series of migrant disasters which, until the events of 2015, came to typify the scale and horror of forced migration on a scale not witnessed since the Second World War. This article outlines the background to this story and why Lampedusa became so important in the ‘borderization’ of Europe. It then explores issues of representation, especially within Lampedusa itself, from sources varying from the island’s cemetery to official and alternative sites of heritage (especially the Porto M museum) through to the films, documentaries and plays that have been recently made. Ethical issues are raised including the archaeology of hate speech towards migrants, especially in relation to British Mandate Palestine, and whether there are limits to what can be shown of the horror. Finally, it asks what space there is for the migrant voice to be heard in cultural and political responses to this global crisis.
199-231
Kushner, Tony
958c42e3-4290-4cc4-9d7e-85c1cdff143b
2016
Kushner, Tony
958c42e3-4290-4cc4-9d7e-85c1cdff143b
Kushner, Tony
(2016)
Lampedusa and the migrant crisis: ethics, representation and history.
Mobile Culture Studies, 2, .
(doi:10.25364/08.2:2016.1.6).
Abstract
The tiny Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean has become notorious in the early twenty-first century through a series of migrant disasters which, until the events of 2015, came to typify the scale and horror of forced migration on a scale not witnessed since the Second World War. This article outlines the background to this story and why Lampedusa became so important in the ‘borderization’ of Europe. It then explores issues of representation, especially within Lampedusa itself, from sources varying from the island’s cemetery to official and alternative sites of heritage (especially the Porto M museum) through to the films, documentaries and plays that have been recently made. Ethical issues are raised including the archaeology of hate speech towards migrants, especially in relation to British Mandate Palestine, and whether there are limits to what can be shown of the horror. Finally, it asks what space there is for the migrant voice to be heard in cultural and political responses to this global crisis.
Text
Kushner Tony Lampedusa and the migrant crisis
- Version of Record
Text
TK articles_Lampedusa Mobile Cultures.pdf
- Other
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 18 October 2016
Published date: 2016
Organisations:
History
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 401692
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/401692
ISSN: 2413-9181
PURE UUID: f9006167-766c-41ad-ba6c-88c2152dafd1
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 20 Oct 2016 08:42
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:52
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics