Leiden University Student Repository

Schwab, Janna (2022)

The Postmemory of Uyghurs in the Diaspora

Bachelor thesis | Kunstgeschiedenis (BA)

This article examines how the documentary A Boy Named Freedom contributes to the reconstruction of the discarded cultural memory of Uyghurs in the Netherlands.1 A Boy Named Freedom shows the familial narrative of the 21-year-old Dutch Uyghur activist Alerk Ablikim. The point of departure in this study is the search for alternative ways for diasporic Uyghurs to narrate their experiences on the Uygur conflict in order to circumvent China’s global implementation of censorship. Therefore, memorial structures should be reconsidered which will be done through Marianne Hirsch’s theoretical framework of ‘postmemory’.2 Hirsch’s concept is originally coined in the context of the Holocaust and will be useful for analysis given the traumatic and genocidal characteristics of the Uyghur conflict. In this article, A Boy Named Freedom will be read as postmemoir reflecting upon its intergenerational transmission of the traumatic memories of Uyghurs in the Netherlands.

Uyghur diaspora, Uyghur genocide, postmemory, trauma, silenced narratives, documentary

Author

Schwab, Janna

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Arts, Media & Society

Supervisors

K. de Wild

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en