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Ambivalent Sites of Memories: The Meaning of Family Homes for Transnational Families

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Memories on the Move

Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship ((MDC))

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Abstract

In perceiving the family house as an active participant in the construction of memories, this chapter explores the meaning of the family house as a memory site in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina. Based on data from ethnographic fieldwork in Bosnia, Denmark and Sweden, the chapter argues that the family house can be perceived as a memory site revealing different layers of ambivalence: the ambivalence of ‘return’; the ambivalence of the simultaneous presence of violent and joyful memories; the ambivalence between musealization as part of the memory work and necessary renovation; the ambivalence of remembering within generations; and the ambivalent feelings of ‘home’, making ‘home’ itself a mobile concept where people use different mnemonic practices in order to manage their memories and (re)make ‘homes’ in changed political situations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Sanda Üllen

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  1. Sanda Üllen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Monika Palmberger

  2. Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Jelena Tošić

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Üllen, S. (2016). Ambivalent Sites of Memories: The Meaning of Family Homes for Transnational Families. In: Palmberger, M., Tošić, J. (eds) Memories on the Move. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57549-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57549-4_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57548-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57549-4

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