Katerina Bryant (University of South Australia) ; Linda Fisk (University of South Australia) ; Hayley Brown (University of South Australia) ; Suzie Anderson (University of South Australia) ; Michele Jarldorn (University of South Australia) ; Susannah Emery (University of South Australia)
I was lucky enough to be a co-author on this really important chapter on the language of women’s prisons, published in the TEXT Journal. Alongside my amazing colleagues, we explore the language used in prisons and the way it is used to control incarcerated people. I hope that as many people as possible read this article and that it raises awareness of the impact of language on incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
Here is the abstract:
This article explores the use of language and narrative in the carceral system, demonstrating how language is used as a tool of control and violence to bolster the prison industrial complex. We explore how incarcerated women are using narratives to understand and share their lived experience. In doing so, these women’s work contributes to the genre of “prison poetics” (Larson, 2010) which gives voice to the cruelty of the carceral system and thus advocates for abolition. We have chosen to integrate personal reflections throughout this article to highlight the lived experience of abolition work and the thoughts of Seeds’ Advisory Group members on the language used in prison.
The article is open access and you can read it here: https://find.library.unisa.edu.au/discovery/fulldisplay/alma9916847018501831/61USOUTHAUS_INST:ROR