Performing Historical Duty

Abstract

This chapter explores the representation of asylum seekers and refugees in relationship to the discourse of Irish ‘historical duty’, which posits that Ireland has a particular obligation to welcome asylum seekers, refugees and migrants because of its own postcolonial and emigrant experience. I perform a comparative analysis of the asylum seeker’s body as affective trigger for the political activation of historical duty in Donal O’Kelly’s The Cambria (Benbo Productions, 2005, theatre), John Scott’s Fall and Recover (Irish Modern Dance Theatre, 2009, dance) and Vukasin Nedeljkovic’s Asylum Archive (online, 2013-present, photography). By looking across artistic mediums, I uncover new potentials for circumventing the representational traps inherent in historical duty for empowering those seeking asylum as political subjects and refocus attention on the material conditions of the asylum process in Ireland today.