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- Convenor:
-
Hagar Salamon
(The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
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- Stream:
- Narrative
- Location:
- VG 3.101
- Start time:
- 27 March, 2017 at
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
The phenomenon of temporary dwelling narrated from critical and historical perspectives: the socio-political circumstances that bring about temporary dwelling, such as wars, famine or social injustice, and narrative and ritual practices addressing and processing temporary dwelling(s).
Long Abstract:
In this session we intend to approach the phenomenon of temporary dwelling as narrated from critical and historical perspectives. We invite contributions that view the socio-political circumstances that bring about temporary dwelling, such as wars, famine or social injustice, and narrative and ritual practices addressing and processing temporary dwelling(s). Papers may include concrete however critically interpreted ethnographies as well as theoretically based analyses. Theoretical points of departure that we have raised include the heterotopical (Foucault) character of temporary dwellings that sets them as positions to view other modes of dwelling; the inherent dynamics of mobility and stability in the strategies and tactics of temporary dwelling (de Certeau); the symbolical and political aspects of nomadism vs. sedentary living (Deleuze and Guattari).
Accepted papers:
Session 1Petr Janeček (Charles University)
Paper short abstract:
The paper analyzes social context of Czech and German oral narratives about the Springer/Spring Man, mysterious urban phantom of the WWII, with special emphasis on temporary social spaces connected with this anomic storytelling such as public underground shelters.
Paper long abstract:
The paper analyzes social context of Czech and German oral narratives about the Springer/Spring Man, mysterious urban phantom said to be able to jump to extraordinary heights with aid of amazing spring-like mechanism attached to his boots. This regional version of international Spring-heeled Jack narrative complex became popular during last months of the Second World War, narrated as rumours, contemporary legends, personal experience narratives, anecdotes and jokes. Following tradition of classical wartime sociological study by Antonin J. Obrdlik "Gallows Humor - A Sociological Phenomenon" (1942), the paper describes main characteristics, distribution, variation, but especially social context of these oral narratives. Special emphasis is put on temporary social spaces connected with this anomic storytelling such as public underground shelters in wartime Prague, dormitories of young people working in context of Arbeitseinsatz in Nazi Germany, or homes of Sudeten German refugees displaced from Czechoslovakia to post-war Germany. In conclusion, some general remarks about this international narrative complex are presented, starting with its origin in Great Britain between 1837 and 1904 and ending with its best documented cases from Czech Lands, Russia and Soviet Union and Germany during the period of 1917-1965.
Diego Rotman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Paper short abstract:
This paper will deals with two parallel narratives on the Bedouin temporary dwelling: Display and Narrative of the Bedouin tourist initiative "Bawadi" and Display and Narrative of the Israel Museum in relation to their "Bedouin" tent converted into a Jewish Sukkah.
Paper long abstract:
Leading up to the 2014 Sukkot holiday a group of artists decided to delve into the sukkah's charged meaning in the Israeli context and highlight the temporary nature of the sukkah structure and its associations with exile. They decided to focus on Sukkot as a festival commemorating the biblical Jewish "refugee camps" bringing to Jerusalem an "authentic" house from a refugee camp from today's Israel/Palestine. They traveled to an unrecognized Bedouin village at the Judean Desert to meet members of the Jahalin tribe. They proposed to purchase one of their tiny houses, dismantle it, and reassembly it as a sukkah in West Jerusalem. The ephemeral and illegal refugee house was rebuilt and used as a Jewish Sukkah for the Jewish Holiday. A year later the piece was sold to the Israel Museum as an art piece, and the Bedouin community paid half of the amount, playing the Museum a major role in the canonization of an ephemeral and illegal house.
The dismantled Bedouin hut in the desert left an empty space to be filled the same night with a new and stronger cabin. After a couple of months, the al-Korshan dismantled the cabin, leaving only the roof. The interior was arranged with "typical" Bedouin carpets, mattresses. A large piece of new cloth was to hide the ceiling, creating the feeling of being outdoors in a typical Bedouin tent. The new cabin became a focal point for displaying Bedouin culture and hosting tourists visiting the Bawadi eco-tourism project.
Georgios Kouzas (Athens University)
Paper short abstract:
The loss of dwelling is a major issue that emerged in Greece due to the economic crisis. Thoughts and emotions of homeless people shall be explained; hardships of everyday life and survival strategies shall be depicted; and their aspirations for the future shall be analysed.
Paper long abstract:
Over the past few years the emergence of homeless people in Greece has become an acute phenomenon due to the economic crisis. These are people who have either lost their privately-owned properties in auctions or people who used to rent flats and could no longer pay the rent. So, individuals or even families have lost their home. New forms of temporary self-dwelling emerged: bridges have become home for many people, cars have housed entire families and abandoned houses have been re-inhabited.
This paper is based on a field research carried out in a municipality of Athens, between 2010 and 2015. It focuses on cases of people who live and survive –temporarily or permanently - in the street –not for their entire life, but since 2009, when they lost their houses due to the economic crisis. In particular, the following subjects shall be analysed: a) The importance of a house for people like them, not only from the practical side of housing, but also as a symbol of success and social progress. b) The abandonment of home due to an eviction or auction as a psychological traumatic experience (thoughts and emotions of shame and anger). c) How is life organised nowadays without a dwelling? Which new forms of temporary self-dwelling in the street have these people come up with? d) Which are the emotions created by the state of homelessness? Do they react and try to act? Or do they have a passive attitude? e) Optimistic aspirations and pessimistic prospects for the future.