Human Archipelago
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To speak to the speakable. To not speak to the unspeakable. When confronted with the unspeakable, I desire the inability to speak. In the places where speech is the only option, all things appear speakable and something must be said. But must something be said?

The category of the unspeakable, the unspeak-to-able, is related to the category of awe, which has always helped guarantee the human. The category of the unspeakable is abolished under the tyranny of speech, under the tyranny of commentary. Something must be said; something is quickly said. Needful thought obscured by heedless speech.

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© Fazal Sheikh © Teju Cole. All rights reserved
  • Human Archipelago
  • Introduction
  • Images and Text
  • Video
  • Notes on the photographs
  • Notes on the texts
  • Notes on the authors
  • Acknowledgements
  • fazalsheikh.org