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<p>One notable literary work that addresses the harsh realities of Australian border politics is <i>No Friend But the Mountains</i> by Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who sought asylum in Australia via boat. The book, narrated in the first person, follows the journey and reflections of an undocumented refugee, closely resembling Boochani himself, who left Iran in 2013 and spent several years in Manus Prison. This article examines the dehumanisation strategies portrayed in the book in light of Giorgio Agamben’s concepts of <i>homo sacer</i>, bare life, <i>zoe</i>, and <i>bios</i>. Additionally, Achille Mbembe’s theory of necropolitics is evoked to provide a broader context for Agamben's ideas within modern colonial regimes and their influence on present-day democratic states. By drawing on these theoretical frameworks, the article explores how the prison system degrades refugees to a state of “bare life,” stripping them of their political and natural identities, manipulating their perception of time and space. While both temporal and spatial experience of the refugees is targeted by the controlling system, this analysis focuses exclusively on the spatial politics exercised against the refugees and how the creation of a feeling of “placelessness” contributes to the alienation and dehumanisation of the detained refugees. To achieve this, the system employs various strategies including enforcement of overcrowded living conditions, bureaucratic hurdles, resource scarcity, queuing for basic needs, constant surveillance, and fostering conflict and friction among detainees. By targeting the spatial orientation of detainees, these strategies aim to undermine the very essence of their existence, forcing them into a condition of “bare life” and justifying their exclusion and possible elimination.</p>

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Spatial Politics and the Dehumanisation of Refugees in Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年5月9日

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  • Mohsen Hanif

摘要

One notable literary work that addresses the harsh realities of Australian border politics is No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee who sought asylum in Australia via boat. The book, narrated in the first person, follows the journey and reflections of an undocumented refugee, closely resembling Boochani himself, who left Iran in 2013 and spent several years in Manus Prison. This article examines the dehumanisation strategies portrayed in the book in light of Giorgio Agamben’s concepts of homo sacer, bare life, zoe, and bios. Additionally, Achille Mbembe’s theory of necropolitics is evoked to provide a broader context for Agamben's ideas within modern colonial regimes and their influence on present-day democratic states. By drawing on these theoretical frameworks, the article explores how the prison system degrades refugees to a state of “bare life,” stripping them of their political and natural identities, manipulating their perception of time and space. While both temporal and spatial experience of the refugees is targeted by the controlling system, this analysis focuses exclusively on the spatial politics exercised against the refugees and how the creation of a feeling of “placelessness” contributes to the alienation and dehumanisation of the detained refugees. To achieve this, the system employs various strategies including enforcement of overcrowded living conditions, bureaucratic hurdles, resource scarcity, queuing for basic needs, constant surveillance, and fostering conflict and friction among detainees. By targeting the spatial orientation of detainees, these strategies aim to undermine the very essence of their existence, forcing them into a condition of “bare life” and justifying their exclusion and possible elimination.