War, memories and Little Waterfall; a Syrian village that is no more

TY - ABST

T1 - War, memories and Little Waterfall; a Syrian village that is no more

AU - Wessels, Josepha Ivanka

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - This paper describes the impact of the Syrian war through accounts of conflict, social memories and reconstructed village identities. It looks at the question how memories of home and place are transformed by conflictual mobilities. Since the outbreak of civil war in Syria in March 2011, nine million Syrians are displaced. According to the UNHCR, over 3 million have fled to Syria's immediate neighbours Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq while about 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria. Meanwhile, under 150,000 Syrians have declared asylum in the European countries, while member states have pledged to resettle a further 33,000 Syrians. Between 1999 and 2004, the author has conducted long-term anthropological fieldwork in a village called “Little Waterfall” at the edge of the Syrian desert in Aleppo province. In 2014, she travelled back to Aleppo to reconnect with her key-informants from “Little Waterfall”. When she finally was able to locate several members and respondents of the village community, she found that all its inhabitants were displaced in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and further abroad in Europe. The author learned that the village was no more, houses are empty, looted and deserted during the Syrian war. This paper reflects on trans-nationalism, social memories and village identities that are influenced by conflictual mobilities. Based on data and video footage collected between 1999 and 2004, complemented by recent filming and interviews with the community members of Little Waterfall, field-visits to present-day Syria and previous fieldwork, the author revisits displaced people of the village, the memory of Little Waterfall and reflects on how memories of the Syrian inhabitants are shaped by their nostalgia of the village. The paper describes life-histories of these Syrian refugees and the displaced people from Little Waterfall who are located inside Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and at an immigration center in the Netherlands.

AB - This paper describes the impact of the Syrian war through accounts of conflict, social memories and reconstructed village identities. It looks at the question how memories of home and place are transformed by conflictual mobilities. Since the outbreak of civil war in Syria in March 2011, nine million Syrians are displaced. According to the UNHCR, over 3 million have fled to Syria's immediate neighbours Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq while about 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria. Meanwhile, under 150,000 Syrians have declared asylum in the European countries, while member states have pledged to resettle a further 33,000 Syrians. Between 1999 and 2004, the author has conducted long-term anthropological fieldwork in a village called “Little Waterfall” at the edge of the Syrian desert in Aleppo province. In 2014, she travelled back to Aleppo to reconnect with her key-informants from “Little Waterfall”. When she finally was able to locate several members and respondents of the village community, she found that all its inhabitants were displaced in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and further abroad in Europe. The author learned that the village was no more, houses are empty, looted and deserted during the Syrian war. This paper reflects on trans-nationalism, social memories and village identities that are influenced by conflictual mobilities. Based on data and video footage collected between 1999 and 2004, complemented by recent filming and interviews with the community members of Little Waterfall, field-visits to present-day Syria and previous fieldwork, the author revisits displaced people of the village, the memory of Little Waterfall and reflects on how memories of the Syrian inhabitants are shaped by their nostalgia of the village. The paper describes life-histories of these Syrian refugees and the displaced people from Little Waterfall who are located inside Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and at an immigration center in the Netherlands.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

ER -