The state of “legal limbo” is a term invented by a legal anthropologist Heath Cabot, which identifies “precarious position between undocumented, paperless illegality, and “refugee” status” of an individual” (175). In Bodies of Silence and Resilience: Writing Marginality Natalie Zervou explores the relationship between the concept of Greek national identity as “an appropriation of ancient Greek glorifies ideas” and the marginalization process in the country. The idea of Greek nationalism cuts legal ways to move from Greece to another place by enforcing refugees to the marginalized minority. Accordingly to the scholar, the reason why under-represented communities including immigrants are being marginalized in Greece lies in the nation’s “anxiety to preserve a continuous sense of national unity and purity” (175).
As it is clear from Cabot’s paper, Greece has established its independence in 1832. The recent influx of immigrants caused a great artists’ aspiration to reflect on the current events. In her work, Zevou talks about dance as the practice of inducing people’s emotions and getting their attention to the issue of refugees underestimation and marginalization. Perhaps, the most significant of all the creative projects given in the text as examples Bodies of Resilience film made by Jill Woodward, featuring dance choreographer Despina Stamos voice these issues immigrants face with. As the author of the paper notes, the part of the film that is called “fear of fascism” uncovers the most problematic aspect of lives of people owning legal limbo status. Indeed, this work honestly talks about violence that is caused by extremists who are not ready to accept interculturality that start growing bigger in Greece. What is particularly interesting in that case is extremists adherence to the idea of Greek pure nation that excludes people with refugee status, for in that context immigrants are being considered as so-called “the others”.
The reason why this piece about refugees marginalization process in Greece connects to our class topic is obvious. People’s reflection on refugee crisis implemented in artistic forms is a more intriguing aspect because now we surprisingly admit that dance can envision immigrants status. Indeed, to bring attention to the process of marginalizing in Greece, artists come up with various creative projects. In their attempt to call the society for altering the idea of cultural purity, they create powerful products that eventually become prominent (176).
Hi Anastasiia,
You begin by identifying your keyword, “legal limbo” and then giving a great definition of what the term meant by the scholar who popularized it. In a keyword essay, the expectation is to take the work and explain how it operates in the text – so in particular why Zervou utilizes the term. If the EFFECT – meaning what happens to refugess – is that they find themselves in legal limbo – meaning without legal recourse to migrate or find some relief through the national or international course systems then what could be the cause of that condition? Zervou hypothesizes that the structure of nationalism enforces this condition of legal limbo and marginalizes the refugees who are stuck in a place without modes of recourse. She also talks about how a different narrative could get citizens to push for different policies regarding refugees if they understood their plight in relation to “Greekness” which admits the idea that at some point, their families were also migrants of sorts. So then she talks about how dance can envision this status and evoke empathy and undermine narratives of nationalism that are used by the far right to exclude people who have fled from violence and have landed on Greek soil. What you need to do is carry the reason you single out your keywork throughout your essay, explaining how it is a critical notion to understanding the text you read. Also, don’t use the word “aforementioned” – instead refer directly to the concept you want to identify.