Jacaranda Journal 13.1 Breaching Boundaries

Jacaranda Journal 13.1 Breaching Boundaries is a creative and literary collection of short fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and visual art with the theme of Breaching Boundaries:

Boundaries, real or imagined, mark an edge or limit. Whether physical, social, cultural, or psychological, boundaries define how all living creatures go about their lives. Boundaries organise the world into categories of inclusion and exclusion, and shape what is visible, valued, and permitted.

While personal, communal, or cultural boundaries can create safety and structure, these boundary lines have been drawn around systems of power defined by injustice, instability, and inequity. Within these dominant sociocultural boundary lines, some are nurtured while others are left behind.

Throughout history, boundaries have been drawn to enforce silence upon dissenters, in the name of order. Today, we can look back upon a past that weaponised oppressive boundaries-likewise, I envision that those who come after us will look back toward today through a similar lens. These boundaries are everywhere: in our laws, our customs, our expectations of each other, and even our thoughts. These man-made boundaries determine who is allowed to speak, who is believed, and who is erased.

However, not all boundaries are determinate. Many are constructed by humans, and what is constructed can be dismantled.

Those who attended the launch of Jacaranda Journal 12.1: Scorched Earth, may recall Euri's reflections on walking the streets in protest for Palestine, and witnessing our community push back against injustice. One year on, we now bear witness to those same members of our community being arrested for breaching the boundaries imposed by a government seeking to stifle our freedom of speech and protest. In the face of social injustice, humanitarian crises, ecological destruction, and threats to freedom of speech and expression, it has become imperative to push the boundaries of established expectations: to breach boundaries.

The theme of Breaching Boundaries emerged from an urgent ethical drive but evolved into a more expansive consideration of creative expression not only as a record of dissent, but as a form of dissent itself.

The acts of storytelling and artistic creation have long been essential forms of resistance. Historically and today, we have witnessed the suppression of the arts and artists, because curious, unbound, and critical creative expression breach the boundaries of established systems of power and control.

Stories unsettle the established hierarchies, economies, and expectations contained within imposed boundaries. Stories move across borders that are meant to contain, and whether covertly or explicitly, preserve the experiences of those who exceed the frameworks imposed upon them. It is through creative output that we have the capacity to reckon with experiences and perspectives beyond our own, and as such, to weaken the boundaries separating us.

In writing and art, as in life, the breaching of boundaries might be manifest in revolutionary acts of rebellion, or in small acts of questioning, uncertainty, and experimentation. To speak critically in a world that rewards conformity is to breach boundaries.

Creation is not a neutral act. It exists in constant negotiation with established boundaries, and across time, context, and culture, proves to be one of the most enduring forms of resistance.

In this edition of Jacaranda Journal, we explore the theme of Breaching Boundaries. Within these pages, you will find works that question, breach, and refuse containment. Some boundaries are boisterous and violent, and others are quiet, internalised lines we carry in secrecy.