"Silent Trees" (2024): Crossing the Border to 'Fortress Europe'

Ewa Antoszek

Abstract


This article analyzes contemporary European migration regimes through the 2021 Polish–Belarusian border crisis and its representation in Silent Trees. It aims to examine how migrants experience both physical border crossing and subsequent social, legal, and cultural “borders.” Focusing on the story of a teenage Kurdish girl, Runa, the article highlights the gendered and traumatic dimensions of displacement, including the phenomenon of “denied childhood,” captivity, and hostipitality. It also explores the use of animation to articulate trauma. Finally, it indicates the human cost and ethical contradictions of restrictive migration policies.

 

 


Keywords


migrations; borders; Fortress Europe; Silent Trees; captivity; hostipitality, border matrix; repeating border

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2026.50.2.68-79
Date of publication: 2026-07-10 10:36:12
Date of submission: 2026-04-12 12:42:22


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