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(Re)creating Home: The Lived and Gendered Experiences of Tamil Women in Sydney, Australia

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A Sense of Viidu

Abstract

In Sri Lankan society, women’s stories are often marginalised and/or silenced, despite the insights into experiences of war and displacement these stories have. Gender plays a fundamental role in our understanding of war since it affects how past lived experiences become situated in everyday resettlement practices in the home. I present the stories of Anjali and Jayamala—two Tamil refugee women—through a gendered lens about the war and their everyday experiences of resettling and (re)creating home in Sydney, Australia. In this research, I walked through, and filmed, their homes as they shared their stories and histories. To understand the construction of their homes, I explore how Anjali and Jayamala’s stories revealed past and present lived experiences, emotions and practices, refracted through the material and symbolic spaces of their homes. The multilayered home and everyday practices remind us that memory, identity and place are tightly woven together, especially when implicated by conflict.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The names of participants provided in this chapter are pseudonyms.

  2. 2.

    Quarantine controls in Australia involve the inspection of goods to minimise the risk of introducing pests and diseases in Australia and to protect Australia’s agriculture and environment industries. Australian quarantine laws are enforced by (and are part of) the Department of Agriculture.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. I would like to acknowledge the participants who shared their deeply personal experiences and stories with me. My sincerest thanks go to Associate Professor Danielle Drozdzewski and Dr Marilu Melo Zurita for their constructive feedback on earlier versions of this chapter. I would also like to thank Caitlin Buckle for her guidance and comments on this chapter. Many thanks to Niro Kandasamy and Dr Niru Perera for their direction and editorial guidance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Charishma Ratnam

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  1. Charishma Ratnam
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Niro Kandasamy

  2. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Nirukshi Perera

  3. Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Charishma Ratnam

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Ratnam, C. (2020). (Re)creating Home: The Lived and Gendered Experiences of Tamil Women in Sydney, Australia. In: Kandasamy, N., Perera, N., Ratnam, C. (eds) A Sense of Viidu. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1369-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1369-5_9

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-1368-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-1369-5

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