Event Report
Writing as Resistance in Times of War and Genocide
Summary Abstract
This day conference highlighted the power of resistance literature, along with the risks of such writing. It raised serious academic questions about the potential relationships among writing, resistance, and violence in both current and historical contexts. It argued that recent acts of military intervention pose a responsibility both to the citizens of those countries whose governments go to war and to writers who oppose them. Interventions by Britain, the US and Australia in Iraq and Afghanistan provide a contemporary context for rethinking the agency of writing in times of war and genocide.
Event Report
National and international participants reflected on the specific power of writing in the production of critical responses to war and genocide both now and in the past. ‘Resistance’ itself was conceived of in terms of critique and dissent, and in its manifestations of textual productions including literature, scholarship and art. M.K. Gandhi’s philosophies of non-violence were explored in relation to Western philosophical debates on spirit in the early 20th century; African literature was read for its ironic critique of a colonial power embodied in a dominant, imported language; Holocaust testimonies were analysed for their discursive agency during a time of genocide and incarceration. Textual forms analysed on the day included published writing, buried letters, and media production such as photography of Palestinian deaths from Israeli attack; international art that addressed issues of war and terror; and poetry of conscientious objection. Problems of complicity, of uncertainty, and of remembering and forgetting became central to the discussions that emerged during question time and the closing plenary.
All participants expressed their thanks for being invited and remarked on the interesting discussions. A follow up edited special issue of papers is being planned by the convenor, Dr Deborah Staines. The number of paying registrations and the generous support by the Mellon grant, meant that this conference was run very economically.
