VULNERABILITY AND PRECARITY IN GAZA;A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF REFAAT ALAREER'S SELECTED POEMS

Abstract

In the ideal world, human beings are considered to have equal fundamental rights but Gazans seem to be deprived of those taken-for-granted rights. Judith Butler in her seminal book Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence (2004) dwells on the heightened level of precarity at the onslaught of violence. She further explores the concepts of vulnerability and precarity and claims that precarity is differentially distributed worldwide. The current study explored the implication/application of the notions on the lives in Gaza. The study tended to analyze Refaat Alareer’s selected poems and explored the themes related to vulnerability, precarity. Judith Butler’s theorization of the concepts served as a theoretical framework for the research. The study utilized thematic analysis proposed by Braun and Clarke as a methodology. The exploration of themes, as depicted in the selected poems of Refaat Alareer, like vulnerability, precarity and mourning lead to a deeper understanding of the violence being committed in Gaza and how precarity and vulnerability could trigger a moral response in the face of the violence, and during the time of war.