Issue 5: Sanctuary

Cover artwork by Marnie Blair

Writing in the aftermath of World War I, the novelist Thomas Mann placed his character Hans Castorp in a tuberculosis sanatorium, high in the Alps, for seven years. For Mann, the concept of safety was complex: he described time itself as a swiftly-disintegrating sanctuary. From Mann’s The Magic Mountain to George Mason University’s recent virtual exhibit, “Sanctuary: Growing Along Nature in an Uncertain World,” the concept of sanctuary has been articulated through a variety of media and disciplinary forms. Sanctuary, which invokes notions of sacred space, can be associated with a place that provides safety or protection. The word itself creates social meaning across languages: in French, for example, the word for “sanctuary” is interchangeable with “asylum.” For the past four decades, the sanctuary movement in the U.S. has sought to provide asylum for groups seeking refuge from sites of political oppression. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth surges of risk that make a constant sense of safety elusive for many. In this issue, contributors contemplate the many dimensions of sanctuary, exploring aesthetics, ethics, and affects of safety in the context of care.