Split Archives in Selected War Poems by Dunya Mikhail and Brian Turner
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/wjfh.Vol22.Iss3/Pt1.2070Keywords:
Dunya Mikhail, Brian Turner, Split ArchiveAbstract
This research examines the post-2003 Iraq War poetry by Brian Turner and Dunya Mikhail to argue that it produces a split in archival poetics. The term refers to the poetic practice by which the literary texts mediate a certain historical event which affects what is remembered or omitted in its archival record. The significance of the study lies in moving beyond the readings of war poetry as response to trauma, into investigating how poetry participates in the historical record of war. The methodology follows a comparative close reading of selected poems from Dunya Mikhail’s The War Works Hard and Brian Turner’s Here, Bullet. The findings demonstrate that Iraq War poetry constitutes a split archival field rather than a coherent body of testimony, based on which position the witness stands. Future studies may examine war poetry through comparative lens as well as the cultural effect of reading such poetry through translation.
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