Regimes of voice and visibility in the refugeescape

Abstract

This paper proposes refugeescapes as a framework for expanding the focus of semiotic landscape studies by centering migration, inequality, and social exclusion. In so doing, the article adds to the work of Mpendukana and Stroud (2018) and Kerfoot and Hytlenstam (2017) in uncovering how place is structured by issues of affect, voice, and visibility. In my paper, I turn to a case study of the spatializing practices of refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland, and the ways they counteract the mainstream semiotic mediation of their experiences. In particular, I focus on the semiotic landscapes of transgressive intent where asylum seekers address mistreatment in their host country. By examining material produced by refugees and asylum seekers themselves, my paper demonstrates how enclosed spaces are a methodological venue for the field, while arguing also for a more thorough engagement with the theory and politics of visibility/voice.