Muistelun monet muodot – kertomus, kehollisuus ja hiljaisuus paikan tietämisen tapoina

Authors

• Kristiina Korjonen-Kuusipuro
• Anna-Kaisa Kuusisto-Arponen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30666/elore.79278

Abstract

This article discusses the various practices of remembering adopted in Finnish Karelia, which was ceded to the Soviet Union after the Second World War. We explore the bodily experiences of remembering, and especially silences related to it. We analyse what kind of silent practices are being built, how they are renewed and also challenged. The empirical data of this article is based on a field trip made to Kurkijoki, Karelian Isthmus, in 2010. The empirical material consists of a fieldwork diary, photographs, and diaries written by co-travellers. Methodologically we show how narrative bodily performances and silences are intertwined and how they can be researched through sensory ethnography.

The article illustrates how various practices of remembering are formed, how people take part in these commemoration practices, how they narrate them, and how subjective, embodied remembering becomes visible through bodily performances and practices. We also argue that silence is always part of remembering and one way of knowing the place. Silence is a typical reaction when unpleasant memories occur. In these situations the body, sometimes unconsciously, reveals the untold. Thus, it must be noticed that interpreting silences requires carefulness and empathetic presence from a researcher.

We conclude that the analysis of socio-spatial belonging should always be contextual and situational. In the analysis embodied practices, oral narratives, and material elements should always be viewed together. This way it becomes possible to understand the politics of remembering and the national, collective, and subjective framings of knowing the place.