We, the Heartbroken
Reflective essays on revolutionary brokenheartedness.
30 March 2023
Paperback / 9781914221163
ebook / 9781914221170
118 pages
‘We, the Heartbroken reckons with loss and grief’s fullness and its surprising abilities to make us alive to one another … entranced by one another again. We are called upon to do this work, to allow for heartbreak to engender capaciousness and collectivity.’
— Full Stop
‘Heartbreak pushes us down a crossroads where we get stuck in a contradiction: one where what we need does not align with what we want … Gargi somehow achieves a balance within this contradiction … until the hesitation of accepting heartbreak becomes a trusty companion to move forward with.’
— National Survivor User Network blog
What do we do when the world breaks our hearts? Racial capitalism in the age of pandemic continues to crush ever more lives and spirits. Yet, we are told repeatedly to master, to overcome, to be resilient. Beneath this fragile pretence of coping, many of us have grown used to living with profound and fathomless sorrow.
In graceful prose, Gargi Bhattacharyya navigates collective grief and how it mingles with personal tragedy. Alongside love and joy, perhaps grief is what makes us human―and while its pain scrapes our wounds, its presence can help us renounce that which exists and build anew.
Heartbreak is the class consciousness of our times. So, it is up to us, the heartbroken, to learn again to heal—and remake the world.
Gargi Bhattacharyya lives and works in London. Their work includes writing on racism, racial capitalism, austerity and war.
Listen along to the We, the Heartbroken playlist, curated by Gargi Bhattacharyya.
Press
— Kunsthalle Bratislava, October 2023
REVIEW: We, the Heartbroken – Gargi Bhattacharyya
— Full Stop, 31 July 2023
REVIEW: Gargi Bhattacharyya’s ‘We, the Heartbroken’
— National Survivor User Network blog, 12 June 2023