Thresholds of In/Visibility and the Scopic Power of Literature

Abstract

In recent years the trope of invisibility has emerged as a critical concept in the humanities; initially associated with the issue of racial invisibility, it has been applied to all forms of marginalisation, be they racial, social, or political. Today, the context of hypervisibility, which results from intensive media coverage of certain events, has made discussing invisibility paradoxical. This article seeks to reassess invisibility as a key concept in the humanities and discusses the scopic power of literature to make the unseen visible. This will be approached via discussion of contemporary narratives dealing with disappearance and loss, with a particular focus on the literature of the middle passage.