This article examines the treatment of voice in Kay Boyle’s short-story “The Lost” (1951) in connection with the “displaced children question” in postwar Europe. The aim is to demonstrate how voice introduces a form of negativity in the text so as to underline the complexities of postwar European reconstruction politics. As a marker and an operator of marginality and displacement, voice problematizes the notions of “origin” and “belonging,” which allows for an embedding of the consequences of identity politics both abroad and at home.
