‘I will resurrect’: Reading and writing grief as political action

Abstract Activists and protestors write grief as text to mourn losses, remember and document resistances to oppressive regimes, and present alternative futures. This article studies how grief is written, through letters and poetry from activists and their families in India, between 2019 and 2022, alongside the ethics of reading and (re)presenting such grief. Expanding upon the ethics of visual depictions of death to public and textual representation, the article posits grief writing as a mode of political action and mobilization. By witnessing and reading the words of imprisoned, murdered, and grieving protest participants, scholars and activists not only make sense of grief, but perform ‘wake work’ by attending to the dead beyond their pain and suffering, recognizing fuller, more holistic depictions of resistance, care and political action.