The Use of Homeland Voice in Warsan Shire's "Home" Poem: Analytical Study
Majeed Hammadi Khalifa
Tikrit University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.6.4.2.8
Keywords: Warsan Shire, diasporic, refugees, home voice, nostalgia
Abstract
This study deals with the diasporic poet Warsan Shire from the point of view of her use of country voice in her poem "Home", to address the horrible situation of refugees. Diasporic literary writers' depictions of home and its complexities are influenced by Africa's painful historical experience with slavery and racial oppression. Despite the host nation's influences on African migrants, the sordid effects of ethnic conflicts lead to writers' disillusionment, which leads them to indulge in sentimental nostalgia for their home of origin. Through studying Shire’s "Home" poem, to examine the country voice in the feelings of refugees' poets, there is a hidden voice of home in the lines of Shire's poem. This study aims to argue for the voice of home through the analysis of Shire’s poem "Home". Also, it will focus on similar situations when home is also running with the people, as if he senses their problem and farewells them to a safer place. In addition, this study looked at how diasporic poets identify with the voice of their nation by using Foucauldian theory of power and the qualitative method of analysis to shed light on how diasporic immigrants behave. Warsan shire argues that nostalgia is an internal feeling of hearing the voice of home and yearning for the native place. The study concludes that there is some hidden relationship between the refugees and their native home, both as an internal relationship and as a feeling of belonging to their native country.
