Representing Homelessness
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Leaving Out Leaving Out
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The Materiality of Absence The Materiality of Absence
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The Multimodality of Strangeness The Multimodality of Strangeness
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Conclusion Conclusion
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7 Leaving Out and Living Rough: On the Materiality of Absence in Literary Representations of the Homeless Experience
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Published:04 November 2021
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Abstract
In winter 2017, a Polish homelessness charity published a book of literary texts, written almost entirely by people with experience of homelessness, entitled Niewidzialni (The Invisibles). The intention behind The Invisibles was to construct the experience of homelessness through an intriguing material practice: the book is printed in ink that is only visible in sub-zero temperatures and can only be read outside of the warmth and comfort of our flats and sofas. It consequently forces the reader to share the experience of being out in the cold. This chapter looks at the strategies used in the book to (re)produce the experience of living rough and the way in which its representation becomes subject to elliptical practices. This will include a discussion of the different perspectives on the questions of agency and forms of representation, or representability, of ‘roofless’ existence and the need for expression.
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