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- Convenor:
-
Elo-Hanna Seljamaa
(University of Tartu)
- Location:
- Hallway, Ülikooli 18
- Start time:
- 1 July, 2013 at
Time zone: Europe/Tallinn
- Session slots:
- 9
Short Abstract:
We encourage students and scholars to present their research results centred on the main conference theme of ‘circulation’, its theoretical implications and practical consequences in visually appealing and conclusive posters.
Long Abstract:
Circulation is one of the major buzzwords in discourses in and around our disciplines. Its theoretical implications and practical consequences belong into most aspects of the academic work of ethnologists, folklorists and cultural anthropologists. Affecting all subfields and approaches of ethnographic research, we find the thematical specifications a convenient opportunity to visualize research work in the form of posters that will be shown throughout the conference.
Contributors of posters should be present at times to be announced in order to give further information and to receive feedback in discussions with colleagues. It is strongly suggested to keep the word count as low as 1000 words to achieve best readability. The focus should lie on the visualisation of the presented work and its results. The posters should be no larger than A2. Hints on good poster design can be found at http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign
and several other pages around the web.
Students and young scholars are strongly encouraged to propose a poster.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
Drawing on a fieldwork material, this poster seeks to explore transnational family relations from the viewpoint of persons – mostly older family members – who have stayed in their home countries while some of their relatives have moved to Finland.
Paper long abstract:
Instead of concentrating on people who actually move, this presentation investigates transnational practices of those people who have not left their home. Mostly these people staying behind are older persons, who are unwilling or unable to leave their homes for various reasons. Although they have not moved themselves, the fact that their family members have migrated has significantly changed also their daily lives and routines.
This presentation reflects mobility and transnational family relations as narrated and interpreted by people staying behind. When family members do not stay in the same country and share continuous day-to-day interaction, family relations and responsibilities have to be negotiated anew. It can be claimed that family in this situation is more and more constructed and maintained through discourses, but on the other hand some aspects of family life - for example caregiving - call for immediate presence of family members. Bearing in mind the tradition and continuous importance of intergenerational care chains, organising transnational care in a way that would be acceptable to all family members provides a challenging task, which often has to be solved by women.
The main research material for the presentation consists of interviews made with former Soviet Union immigrants living in Finland and their family members living in the country of origin (Russian Karelia and Estonia).
Paper short abstract:
The presentation will demonstrate how children of Russian-speaking migrants vizualise Russiannes in their works initiated by Russian cultural education in Finland. It will discuss transcultural creativity and transformations of ethnic representations in regard to cultural and national identitites.
Paper long abstract:
The poster will discuss visual representations of Russian culture of children of Russian-speaking migrants in Finland's context.
Considering the community of Russian-speaking migrants who arrived to Finland during the last two decades and their family relations it is possible to detect generation gap between parents and children usually expressed by people in terms of ethnicity. Children are becoming integrated into the new society and parents feel that they are losing the common cultural background with them. Cultural education is seen as a possible solution to the problem. Thus Russian cultural education specially organised for children of different ages is one of the most important activities of the Russian-speaking community. Among other things it provide teaching of Russian language and Russian culture that creates links with the family, the local Russian community in Finland and the country of departure.
Parents are making efforts to share their cultural background with children. The children in their turn create their own conception of Russian culture: they accept cultural symbols produced by parents, transform them according to their own cultural and social realities and put the images in the new social and cultural context.
The presentation will demonstrate children's works in visual arts and crafts, and analyse cultural symbols used in them in connection with building of children's social and cultural identities. The work is a part of the project "Families on the move across borders: Children's perspective on labour migration in Europe" (University of Eastern Finland, principal investigator Laura Assmuth).
Paper short abstract:
The scope, impact, and demographics of formal volunteering and publicly funded engagements.
Paper long abstract:
Introduction: As a civic engagement with resident involvement, volunteering is socially valued and publicly recognised. As the interaction between private and public networks develops, social capital is created with collective and economic benefits. The current focus on civic engagement-related volunteerism in Norway has effected a rise in complementary private initiatives and public funding specifically with regard to the preservation of historic vessels. Volunteers for this program are primarily men aged over 50 years who spend significant amounts of leisure time in municipalities along the coast, fjords and lakes of Norway. Despite the historical significance of such volunteering, the social capital that is gained, and the substantial funding that is provided by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, no study has mapped the impact or outcome of these efforts over the past 20 years.
Objective and aim: The primary objective was to study the scope of formal voluntary ship preservation work and to map volunteers in this program, the breadth of their efforts and their motivations.
Methods: 90 vessels, funded by the Directorate in 2009, for which empirical data were generated using quantitative and qualitative methods, were included.
Result and discussion: Volunteering correlates positively with male gender and age and has a robust relationship with region and the specific vessel. Reasons for commitment and effort were companionship, unity and memories of and relationship to the specific vessel. The volunteers' efforts aggregated approximately 5.5 million euros in unpaid work. Volunteering in this context is an important component of social capital in elderly men.
Paper short abstract:
The poster presents some possible etymologies of two place names in Estonian Sign Language (EVK). The first name sign (NS) I'm going to observe denotes to the Estonian country (ESTONIA) and the second one to the South Estonian city (TARTU).
Paper long abstract:
Estonian Deaf folk group consist approximately of 1,400-1,500 people.
Deaf people's names as well their name lore reflecting strongly their vernacular culture.
In Estonian Sign Language (EVK) has been at least 2 NS throughout history denoted to the Estonian country. According to the oral history the old sign ESTONIA is motivated from Estonian physiognomy - a large robust chin. This NS not used in contemporary EVK anymore.
There is a statement according to a contemporary NS ESTONIA is loaned from Swedish Sign Language (STS), which is not relevant. Hypothetically present NS is related to the old one with some phonological changes.
The NS TARTU denoting South Estonian city is two-handed sign formed with the identical handform. There are also variants formed with repeated movement. According to the lore the NS refers to the Tartu city coat of arms. But the Deaf name lore proposes also another etymological explanation. According this one TARTU indicates to the old cannons from the Northern War, placed on Toome Hill.
Interestingly the NS TARTU in Latvian Sign Language (LZV) (photo in Latvian Sign Language dictionary from 1962) supports Deaf name lore denoting to the cannons.
It seems that the older NS for Tartu was loaned from EVK to the LZV. This older NS TARTU from 1960thies, formed with two different handforms, differs from present NS for Tartu.
I will claim that both two are vernacular Estonian place NS and have phonologically changed throughout history. Changes in phonological structure affected to create more appropriate local place name lore.
Paper short abstract:
"Playing" with model trains, trainspotting, and collecting railway memorabilia are popular hobbies of countless children and adults all over the world. Focusing on Germany, our project explores manifestations of railway enthusiasm from classic model trains to nostalgic narrow-gauge railways.
Paper long abstract:
Although the railway has lost much of its former prominence as the most important means of transportation in the Western world, it is still of major significance for uncomplicated and sustainable everyday mobility. Most importantly, it has preserved great emotional value for many people. Especially small and vintage trains, be it children's toys, classic models or "real" narrow-gauge railways, are popular objects of nostalgia and fascination for the complex world of railway construction and operation.
Reminiscing about the "good old days", circulating "inside knowledge" in clubs and associations, hunting for the last steam engine, or creating idyllic landscapes along small scaled tracks: Popular appropriations of railways are as diverse and multifaceted as are their agents. And while railway enthusiasts are often perceived as slightly eccentric, aestheticization of, and romanticizing about, (small) trains nevertheless provide the basis for a multitude of popular hobbies.
In this cooperative project, nine students of the MA-programme in Cultural Anthropology at the Georg-August-University in Göttingen (Germany) have enquired into the significance of various manifestations of "small" trains in different social and historical contexts.
Paper short abstract:
Santiago de Compostela is much more than a Catholic shrine and on the Camino de Santiago one is occasionally made aware of the conflict between Catholicism and New Spirituality. In my poster presentation I will examine some features that make the Camino de Santiago a Catholic pilgrimage.
Paper long abstract:
According to John Eade and Michael Sallnow (2000), it is necessary to view the pilgrimage not merely as a field of social relations but also as a realm of competing discourses.
On the Camino de Santiago one is occasionally made aware of the conflict between Catholicism and New Spirituality. People from both 'camps' sometimes show suspicion of each other. It is not uncommon to hear pilgrims speak disapprovingly of the Catholic Church: "They think they own the Camino". New Age is undeniably very popular among many Santiago pilgrims and several people decide to walk the Camino after reading esoteric Camino-books like The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Shirley MacLaine (2000) or The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho (1987).
On my field trips to the Camino I have noticed that both Catholic and non-Catholic pilgrims usually want to take part in the activities offered by the Church. While walking the Camino, pilgrims perform an ancient ritual and thereby accept what comes with it. In a way, for many people it is like going back in time. I have understood that this is how quite a few pilgrims solve the dilemma of not being a church-goer outside the Camino and yet attending pilgrims' mass while on the Camino. In my poster presentation I will examine some features that make the Camino de Santiago a Catholic pilgrimage.
Paper short abstract:
In Costa da Morte (Galicia, Spain) women are taking advantage of their traditional knowledge to get a leading role in the local sphere. I focus on textile craftswomen who are partnering to demand recognition and are improving economic and social dynamics through their everyday life practices
Paper long abstract:
This poster present some sketches from the fieldwork I'm developing in the Costa da Morte, in the northwestern most corner of Spain. The textile craft of bobbin lace, performed mostly by women, is undergoing a renewed strength in the last years. Ascribed to the private sphere and to the everyday life, the performances of textile crafts used to be identified with the female gender stereotypes. But, in this particular case study, women are getting a leading role through the practice of bobbin-lace and are improving the social dynamics in this decadent village. Local women are using their traditional knowledge as an economic resource but beyond, as a social and affective resource. The craftswomen -called palilleiras- are creating working cooperatives, are partnering to demand visibility and recognition, are teaching most of the girls in the village and are in the front sight of the local authorities who are interested in them (product and producers) as a heritage and tourist resource. In this poster, by examining this case study I wonder if we can speak in terms of feminism or, maybe, popular or everyday life practices.
Paper short abstract:
Trees are an important part of the cultural, sacred, imaginated and also private landscapes. This report is based on the digitized text corpus of tree lore of the database Arboretum. The poster presentation concerns tree lore from the mid-19th century to this day.
Paper long abstract:
Trees are an important part of the cultural, sacred, imaginated and also
private landscapes. This report is based on the digitized text corpus of
tree lore of the database Arboretum, compiled by Andres Kuperjanov. The
poster presentation concerns tree lore from the mid-19th century to this
day. The Arboretum contains several types of narratives:
a) Large or remarkable trees - symbols of local landscape.
b) Trees as witnesses of historical events (e.g., Pühajärve war oak)
c) Healing trees, sacrificial trees (e.g., the oak at Kuremäe abbey)
d) Predictions, prophesies (e.g., the tree of local witch Muhu Madli,
trees planted by a of Swedish king).
e) Mythical layer (e.g., people who changed into trees)
f) Cultural and economic spheres where trees serve as symbolic or tangible
parts of daily life.