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Paper short abstract:

In our research on the post-migrant Polish regions, we propose two concepts: the integrity of things and place, and a sense of order. In both cases, the relationship with or through things fills the void left by broken genealogies and seals the appropriation of post-conflict materiality.

Paper long abstract:

The paper is based on research conducted in two Polish cities, Wrocław and Szczecin, which changed their state affiliation from German to Polish after WWII. The initial question of the research concerned the relationships between pre-war objects left behind by resettled Germans and the contemporary inhabitants of the cities. Our research employed a combination of ethnographic and artistic (photographic) methods.

The objects of research prompted a range of practices and attitudes, from emotional attachment to approaches toward profit-making. In this presentation, however, we will emphasize a certain form of relationships, which we categorize as the integrity of things and place, and the "proper" order of things. The former is grounded in the conviction of the harmony of a place that, if interrupted, requires re-integrative action. The latter reveals assumptions that attach social class perspectives to the material surroundings and practices of their usage. Both convictions, as we suggest, naturalize and legitimize the process of post-war appropriation, while at the same time appearing to bring forth a reparative effect by introducing the feeling that the turbulent past has been repaired.