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- Convenors:
-
Maria Yelenevskaya
(Technion-Israel institute of Technology)
Nikolai Vukov (IEFSEM - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
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- Stream:
- Migration
- Location:
- KWZ 0.609
- Start time:
- 29 March, 2017 at
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
- Session slots:
- 2
Short Abstract:
Diasporic myths used to be grounded in the images of the home left behind. Increased mobility and electronic technologies affect the perception of old and new homes, bringing about the bifocal feeling of dwelling in two places and increasing the tension between change and continuity in immigrants’ life.
Long Abstract:
People migrate in search of a better life, secure future and a new home. Even in situations when going back is impossible, ties with the old home are seldom broken completely. They may be as concrete as remittances sent to families left behind, or symbolic, devoid of material form and perpetuated in memories, stories and mental images. Nostalgia used to be an indispensable part of migrants’ life and fertile ground for creating diasporic myths (Cohen 2008.) In order to overcome nostalgia people tried to reproduce the familiar in everyday practices, dwellings, rituals, crafts, and art forms. When memories of the old home were not fed by new encounters, they gradually became blurred, giving rise to hybridization.
Borders have become porous, international travel more affordable, and electronic technologies allow migrants to be virtually present in the places they left. How has it affected imagery and representations of home in distant places? Does it contribute to migrants’ feeling that they dwell in both places at once, and if they do, is it detrimental to the process of rooting in their new country? How are the proliferation of visuals created by individuals today and new modes of online communication changing the nature of narratives about distant home? Do these new developments reinforce or challenge the myth of return triggering an increased mobility and movement between old and new homes? This panel seeks to explore these and related questions and welcomes contributions that bring together comparative perspectives.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Ekaterina Protassova (University of Helsinki) Kirill Reznik
Paper short abstract:
The Russian-speaking minority is present in the Finnish community; 'Old Russians' are the oldest part of it. The material culture of their multilingual homes provides memories of what does it mean to be Russian in the Finnish society. Interiors and narratives are compared to those of the newcomers.
Paper long abstract:
Finland's geographical location as Russia's neighbour and the resultant historical, economic and cultural ties have meant that the Russian language and the Russian-speaking minority occupy an exceptional and complex position in Finland, difficult to compare with other countries. For centuries, immigrants from the East have been coming to do business or to settle down here. The Russian army, which dwelt on the territory of Finland during the time when it was an autonomous Duchy of the Russian Empire, contributed to a growth in the number of Russian-speaking migrants. The group of the so-called 'Old Russians' (e.g., Baschmakoff, Leinonen 2001; Protassova 2004; Schenschin 2008) immigrated from the neighbouring country, which often waged wars with Sweden and Finland; at the same time, the common border served for the transit of goods and tourists, and thus contributed to economic growth. The 'Old Russians' kept memories of Russianness in their homes and transmitted them to their children. The Russian-speakers are the largest linguistic minority in Finland, and their number is expected to increase in the near future. The status of the Russian language has become more visible in the discourses on language policy.
The paper will present photos of the Old Russians' homes, their cherished artefacts and documents from their personal archives, accompanied by narratives of their 'Russian' life in Finland. Telling us what it meant at different epochs to be a Russian in Finland participants showed their belongings and shared their memories. We will compare different waves of migration in their attitudes towards material culture of the homeland.
Kira Kaurinkoski (Aix-Marseille Université)
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines how the interwar Russian refugees and the post-Soviet migrants in Greece have addressed the question of home making in their new situation away from home. Conceptually, the paper examines notions, such as globalization, home, memory, and nostalgia.
Paper long abstract:
The Russian Revolution set a whole empire walking. The collapse of the Soviet Union provoked even larger flows of migrants. In the case of the interwar Russian refugees, return was hardly possible. The situation and the possibilities that the post-Soviet migrants have are different: the end of the Cold War, new technologies, globalization, and the ease of travel enables and facilitates contacts of many sorts. Nevertheless, there are also similarities. In both cases, the old home country was no more. In the places where they settled, the migrants had to build new homes and lives. This paper examines how the interwar Russian refugees and the post-Soviet migrants in Greece have addressed the question of home making in their new situation away from home. How can one break with the past and at the same time ensure continuity? Conceptually, the paper examines notions such as globalization, home, memory, and nostalgia. The paper is based on the author's field research in Greece, 2001-2016, as well as secondary sources.
Nikolai Vukov (IEFSEM - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Paper short abstract:
The paper presents the notions and representations of homeland, maintained by Bulgarian immigrants in Chicago. Based on diverse fieldwork materials, the paper traces the reflections of nostalgia in everyday practices and outlines the symbolic construction of homeland in the context of immigration.
Paper long abstract:
The goal of the current paper is to present the notions and representations of homeland, maintained by Bulgarian immigrants in Chicago and forming a core point in their collective identity. Based on diverse examples including personal narratives and life stories, festive celebrations, participation in community gatherings, home interior, family celebrations, etc., the paper will trace the reflections of nostalgia in everyday practices and will outline the symbolic construction of homeland in the context of immigration. The Bulgarian immigrant community in Chicago is the largest Bulgarian community in the United States and among the largest community of Bulgarians living abroad. Despite the long geographical distance, the length of the period in immigration (in some cases spanning across three generations), Bulgarian immigrants in this megapolis maintain a steady set of notions and representations of homeland which found expression in their everyday activities, contacts with friends and families in Bulgaria, and in various social events that emphasize Bulgarian cultural identity. The paper will reflect on some of these expressions, emphasizing the role of homeland as representing a social and psychological "anchor" for immigrants in the new environment, a key mechanism for their "survival" and adjustment, and a steady characteristic that distinguishes them from other immigrant communities in this multicultural city. In such a way, through analysis of concrete empirical materials in comparative perspective, the paper will outline the socio-psychological effects of construing images and representations of homeland in a changed cultural environment.
Julia Butschatskaja (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) Russian Academy of Sciences)
Paper short abstract:
The house is a symbol of intragroup consolidation among Russian Germans. To build and own a house means an obligation to be at home at a strange or a new place. Decorative objects in the living spaces serve as a tool both for actualization of memories about old home and of unsevered ties with it.
Paper long abstract:
One of the symbols of intragroup consolidation among Russian Germans is The House. German informants as well as immigrants note that many "Russians" own real estate and own houses. This seems to be a stumbling block in relations between immigrants and the surrounding local Germans: for the Russian Germans, when people are destined to exile, when they become wanderers, "building a house" means an obligation to make a strange place their new home. In this paper I will address home as a private sphere and a living space, and will try to compare the identity type of Russian immigrants, chosen by themselves, with the design of this space and with a set of significant objects and wall decorations in living rooms.
Many decorative items in apartments of Russian Germans in Germany are transformed into special memory objects. Photos of grandmothers, speaking in the «old home», a German dialect that has disappeared, birches in white snow, Matrioshkas and Khokhloma souvenirs, as well as furnishings in living rooms, such as big wall cabinets and carpets, are constant elements of Russian immigrants' home design in their new homeland.
The interpretations of the owners show that these objects serve as a link between them of today and the old home, they are projection of the past into the present. Matryoshka and Khokhloma belonging to the realm of persistent ethnic stereotypes appear in the living room as gifts from friends and acquaintances and signal hosts affinities with the Slavic world.
Olga Davydova-Minguet (University of Eastern Finland)
Paper short abstract:
While living in Finland, Russian immigrants maintain transnational cultural, social and economic ties with their native land. Proximity to Russia on the one hand, and a view from a distance, albeit short, but influenced by “the Finnish point of view” produce multilayered perceptions of Russia.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation deals with images of Russia among Russian-speaking immigrants living in the Finnish border area. My case study is based on the interview data collected in the rural border area (municipality of Tohmajärvi in the province of North Karelia in Finland) in 2016. This area was chosen because of several factors. Municipality of Tohmajärvi is the third most Russian municipality in Finland (approximately 4% of its inhabitants are Russian-speaking). The fourth most vivid check-point between Finland and Russia, Niirala-Värtsilä, brings about vitality and exceptional multiethnic atmosphere of this area. Russia has become familiar to local dwellers because of immigration (mostly of Russian women from the border areas of Russia, whose main migration channel is marriage with Finnish men), and habitual border crossings for shopping, buying gasoline, and recreation. At the same time, historically Russianness is seen and represented in Finland predominantly in the discourse of Otherness. Russian-speaking immigrants maintain their transnational cultural, social and economic ties with their native land and produce perceptions of Russia, where images of their childhood and youth, experiences of Post-Soviet change intertwine with their practical everyday experiences of Russia and images produced by Russian TV. The image of Russia based on everyday experience may greatly contradict the images constructed in collective memories or histories. Proximity to Russia on the one hand, and a view from a distance, albeit short, but influenced by "the Finnish point of view" produce multilayered perceptions of Russia.
Maria Yelenevskaya (Technion-Israel institute of Technology)
Paper short abstract:
Making a home is an essential part of settling down. Immigrants’ homes reflect bifocality of everyday practices, cherished possessions and images of an ideal home. Focusing on objects anchoring identity, the paper discusses transformation of values and allegiances fostered by cultures in contact.
Paper long abstract:
Home is an embodiment of a place where one feels safe and it often serves as a metaphor for a familiar territory. No wonder then that in the first stages of post-immigration life the role of belongings that can serve as components of personal or family identities and are metonymically associated with family and friends who stayed behind is particularly significant. As immigrants accumulate new experiences their tastes in possessions and attachment to them can change under the influence of natural factors, such as climate, changes in the socio-economic situation, the culture of the receiving society and their own emergent bi- or multilingualism.
The goal of this paper is to analyze which possessions are perceived by immigrants as important for the stability of self-perception and affiliation and how they reflect their pre- and post-immigration experiences. Fieldwork for the study was conducted among Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel and the data includes in-depth interviews, photographs of immigrants' homes and the author's participant observation.
Focusing on objects endowed with symbolic meanings, we will discuss how immigrants' homes reflect the dual frame of reference (Guarnizo 1997) in everyday practices, cherished possessions and images of an ideal home. Whether consciously or unconsciously, immigrants maintain and deepen their connections to the host culture without abandoning the old one and gradual transformation of their homes testifies to the transformation of values and allegiances, as well as fluidity of identities that are forever in flux.