Memory and Diverse Belongings NUBS 1.13
Jul 06, 2023 09:00 - 10:30(Europe/London)
20230706T0900 20230706T1030 Europe/London 5.2. Space, community and multiple belonging NUBS 1.13 MSA Conference Newcastle 2023 conference@memorystudiesassociation.org
30 attendees saved this session
Postmemory and storytelling among migrants of the southern cone from Latin America in the UK
Individual paperMemory and Diverse Belongings 09:00 AM - 10:30 AM (Europe/London) 2023/07/06 08:00:00 UTC - 2023/07/06 09:30:00 UTC
Understanding the social and cultural heritage of the second and third generations of diasporic communities is relevant, as the experiences of these generations show intersections of multiple identities and, in some cases, complex intergenerational trauma. Remembering and connecting our past with the present is fundamental to build healthy communities; but how to do so does not have a single answer.
During the 70s and 80s, significant waves of migrants form the Southern Cone of Latin America spread around the world as the result of the right wing dictatorships, political persecution and general instability in the region. These Latino communities organized themselves around common cultural practices, where mutual aid and solidarity fostered the creation of a rich intangible heritage.
In the UK, the children and grandchildren of the people that arrived in the 70s and 80s from the Southern Cone of Latin America, experience this heritage with tensions and contradictions. Considering the trauma of many of these families, they have slowly put together their histories in a way that considers context, reaching a coherent narrative (Serpente, 2011). These narratives take shape in second and third generations in structured ways that further their understanding through literary devices (Faúndez & Hatibovic, 2016). In this sense, the second and third generations are not passive receptors of the past, as they actively build postmemories (Hirsch, 2019) in which memorialisation practices, cultural mediators, and imagination are key. 
In this context, even though storytelling has been argued to be useful to elaborate trauma, the particular ways in which the related activities shape the memories and identities linked to social trauma and diaspora of second and third generations needs to be further explored. Through the review of relevant research (Levey, 2021; Ramírez, 2012; Serpente, 2011, 2014) and media (Hora Chilena, 2013) about the second generation of Chileans and Argentinians in the UK, as well as literary texts from second and third generations of these diasporas in other parts of the world (Negri, 2020), I build the case of the particularities of the second and third generation diaspora from the Southern Cone in the UK, to then identify the most prevalent ways in which second and third generations can engage with, and rebuild the stories of the past. I offer an interpretation of these practices to argue that storytelling, particularly through creative writing, can help in the process of constructing complex identities related to migration and social trauma. I argue that these practices can help building a stronger sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) in diasporic contexts, while bridging distances with other groups in the host society. 
Presenters
VR
Vic Riveros
PhD Student, Newcastle University
A 'new' history of multiculturalism? Community memories of activism in the 1970s - Greek and Turkish speaking welfare advocates
Individual paperMemory and Diverse Belongings 09:00 AM - 10:30 AM (Europe/London) 2023/07/06 08:00:00 UTC - 2023/07/06 09:30:00 UTC
Multiculturalism is understood in Australia as a policy framework that was developed and implemented by a Federal Labor government in the early 1970s, with an aim to acknowledge and address equity and access issues related to Non-English-Speaking-Background communities. The historiography of early multiculturalism in Australia offers a top-down perspective, telling the story from policy makers' and prominent academics' perspectives; it therefore downplays or ignores the roles of migrant and ethnic minority communities in campaigning for change and pushing the agenda. Oral histories, and attention to ethnic-minority community perspectives, can offer a 'new' history of multiculturalism in Australia by bringing to light memories of diaspora communities' grassroots activism. This pilot project begins with the premise that community groups remember the early politics of multiculturalism in alternative ways, recognising the role of 'ethnic rights' activists and ethnic communities and the challenge they posed to governments and existing (inadequate) services.  Popular and prevailing historical and/or populist narratives consider migrant community groups as simply recipients of multicultural welfare policy from a benign and often paternalistic state, rather than active agents in multiculturalism development and implementation, let alone its early politics. This paper explores these alternative memories of multiculturalism's origins (including its 'welfare rights' aims, and the interethnic and working class solidarities that have since been usurped by state-sanctioned and trivialised models of multiculturalism). It proposes to do so through the memories of specific Greek and Turkish-speaking community groups, with a particular emphasis on the role of women as volunteers and activists involved in welfare advocacy. Drawing on pilot research, preliminary archival work, and oral histories with Greek and Turkish speaking communities in Melbourne and Sydney, this community-engaged research hopes to build a richer understanding of the history of multiculturalism from a grassroots perspective.
Presenters Burcu Cevik-Compiegne
Lecturer, The Australian National University
Co-Authors
AD
Alexandra Dellios
Senior Lecturer, Centre For Heritage And Museum Studies, Australian National University
Understanding the Present through the Past of the Kyrenia Harbour
Individual paperMemory and Diverse Belongings 00:00 Midnight - 11:00 PM (Europe/London) 2023/07/05 23:00:00 UTC - 2023/07/06 22:00:00 UTC
History of the development of the harbours has a political significance for the island of Cyprus. The old, atmospheric harbour of Kyrenia is one of the many harbours of the island and it has been in existence since the 13th century BC. This small port of Kyrenia is accepted as a proto-harbour, with a long history local trade with the nearby coast of Asia Minor that has continued since ancient times. This tiny harbour has been hardly changed, over the last couple of centuries. As a social space, it has been accepted as one of the most important historical places that cover the memories of the past, displaying a piece of ancient Kyrenia. In the modern times, the harbour is associated with a romantic tranquillity, and has served as a main tourist attraction. 
This research focuses on the changes in the perceptions of the communities of Cyprus over the Kyrenia harbour, especially after the after the relaxation of restrictions in movement in the post-2003 period. There are three distinct memories that can be extracted from the social space of the Kyrenia harbour. The first one is related with the nostalgic visual imagery of the pre-division in Cyprus, where the harbour is articulated with its Hellenic heritage. The second memory lies within the post-division era, where it becomes a lost memory for the Greek Cypriots, and narratives of nostalgia following displacement are commonplace. These are often politicized and associated with conflict and division. The third one relates to the post-2003 period, as it has brought changes in the communities' perceptions of each other and brought new hopes for the future of the island. Since 2003, the dynamics between past and present and the changes in the communities are viewed over the representations of the Kyrenia harbour. It might be okay for Kyrenia and its Harbour to change in different ways because of changes in the economic factors, social activities, tourism, and the changing populations and cultural diversity. 


Presenters
ZA
Zehra Azizbeyli
Dr/Lecturer, Near East University
Regional claims, spatial belonging and memorialisation. Constructing memory itineraries in the Valparaiso Region (Chile)
Individual paperMemory and Diverse Belongings 00:00 Midnight - 11:00 PM (Europe/London) 2023/07/05 23:00:00 UTC - 2023/07/06 22:00:00 UTC
In recent years, initiatives to memorialize the spatial features of State terrorism in Chile have multiplied, including different scales and formats. These actions take part, from their multiple repertoires, not only in the processes of democratization and symbolic reparation for the crimes of the dictatorship, but also in the social production of cities and territories. The paper analyzes the construction of a "memory route" in the Valparaíso region, based on the experience of the citizen and institutional actors that promote it.
This circuit,  which is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, has been implemented between 2017 and 2019 and consists of eleven memorials distributed in seven cities in the region. From an approach at the crossroads of sociology and social geography, and based on a qualitative research developed in two phases (2018 and 2022), the paper argues that the "labors of memory" (Jelin, 2012) are articulated to variable demands according to the territorial anchorages of the groups that carry them out.
First, the representations and spatial practices of the actors will be explored, proposing that the search for symbolic reparation that guides this initiative is articulated to representations and claims crossed by a perception of centralism. These perceptions are associated with a feeling of injustice that points to the difficulties that the local context has historically represented for the implementation of memorial projects, and that models the "territorial subjectivities" (Delamaza et al., 2015) that guides this initiative.
In second place, the presentation will address the processes of patrimonialisation of the sites that make up the circuit, and which reveal asymmetries of power that they tend to hinder, more broadly, the right to the city.
Finally, some reflections on the conflicts and expectations that are generated around the implementation of the route over time will be proposed. Thus, this work seeks to discuss the relationship between processes of memorialization and social production of territories, highlighting how the different milestones of this memory entrepreneurship participate in the way in which places are disputed, inhabited and imagined.
Presenters
CV
Camila Van Diest
Lecturer-researcher, Strasbourg University
Communities of Remembrance - Migration and Dismemberment in Contemporary Turkey
Individual paperMemory and Diverse Belongings 00:00 Midnight - 11:00 PM (Europe/London) 2023/07/05 23:00:00 UTC - 2023/07/06 22:00:00 UTC
This paper examines the notion of survival in the context of mass exodus from the countryside to cities and metropoles as part of Turkey's liberalization and the oppressive trends of Middle Eastern economies, as well as other forms of historic population movements. The analysis focuses on the political nature of identity formation through memorializing the past. It examines the formation of communities of remembrance through the close reading of select films with iconic status. As part of an ongoing engagement with the formation of memory tracks in the service of dealing with loss and trauma, the authors discuss the process of determination of what is construed as 'hometown' as a repertoire of values, nostalgia, and conflictual forms of belonging. The movies and narratives they embody allow for different ways of thinking about the past as an essential trope of de facto displacement and the precarity it embodies. 
Within migrant communities and through the generations, memories of hometown and roots are constantly reshaped while also feeding into the public memory of 'who we are as a family, community or nation' in response to the contemporary crises and insecurities these populations and individuals are faced with. In this sense, memories of hometown and roots possess a distinct political potential for conservative and oppressive engagements and diverse forms of coexistence. The paper will join social histories of migration and displacement with the cinematic representations of these events in Turkish cinema. It will also engage in character analysis from a decolonial Marxist lens.
Presenters Nergis Canefe
Professor, York University, Toronto
Co-Authors Christina Zenginoglu
Dr., Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Dr/Lecturer
,
Near East University
Lecturer-researcher
,
Strasbourg University
Professor
,
York University, Toronto
PhD student
,
Newcastle University
Lecturer
,
The Australian National University
Prof. Dr.
,
Universidad de Salamanca
No attendee has checked-in to this session!
Upcoming Sessions
665 visits