Places of Pain

This is, overall, a carefully researched book following the tradition of Geertzian thick description in an effort to contribute theoretically through the concept of translocalism, analyze reflexively via the authors own history of displacement and emplacement, and comment in a heartfelt way on how refugees recreate social worlds even after massive destruction. Halilovichs account deserves room in any upper-level, if not introductory, undergraduate or graduate course covering some aspect of international migration, especially forced displacement a phenomenon impacting some 50 million people around the world today. International Migration Review Halilovichs book ... powerfully highlights the translocal as the most critical aspect of the diasporic love, care, loyalty, and community. Furthermore, the authors personal investment, respect, attention, and engagement with his people and places are truly admirable. The book should be of great interest to scholars interested in the studies of displacement, memory, and identity projects in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond. American Ethnologist Scholars of transnational migration and diaspora will find in this book a compelling exploration of the day-to-day practices of translocalism. What is most valuable in Halilovichs approach is that it encourages analysis of both homogeneous national and religious groups and heterogeneous multiethnic collectives in empirical, rather than essentialist or ideological, terms. By de-emphasizing the traditional or official markers of difference in Bosnia, Halilovich sheds light on how collective identities may be fostered through shared attachment to places remembered, imagined, and real. Slavic Review In his study of Bosnia and Herzegovinas legacy of forced migration, Hariz Halilovich takes us on a powerful, at times heartwrenching, journey into the lives, memories, and communities of the wars displaced[It] represents an important contribution to the anthropological scholarship of the region, forced migration, and transnationalism. Halilovich has done a masterful job in leading us through critical, underexamined interstices of pain and place that so forcefully define the experiences of Bosnias displaced persons. American Anthropologist This is one of the most powerful accounts the most powerful account by a survivor of the impact of forced displacement in the wake of the Bosnian conflictThe book is a survivors account and at the same time a scholarly critique of what happened. It is an exemplar of engaged and informed writing: moving and informative, evocative and profound. It is a deeply serious book, but with the light touch of an accomplished writer. Ron Adams, Victoria University This title addressed the complexity of lives of the Bosnian diaspora and issues of the trans-local identities like no other book before. The fact that the author has himself experienced the war and the refugee experience, as well as demonstrated the awareness of the process of forging his own new-old identity, contributes greatly to the quality of this book. Edina Becirevic, University of Sarajevo This is a first-class text, covering a hitherto neglected topic. It is original and of a very high intellectual standard. It is crisply written, well structured, based on extensive primary research and guided by a solid theoretical understanding there are very few English-language books in this field that really impress me, but this is one of them. Marko Hoare, Kingston University, UK

Hariz Halilovich, social anthropologist and writer, is a Professor at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne. His research interests include place-based identity politics, forced migration, politically motivated violence, memory studies and human rights. He has been recipient of a number of prestigious research and writing awards in Australia and internationally.

Table of Figures Acknowledgements A note on pronunciation of some specific Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian characters Glossary of nonEnglish words List of selected abbreviations Chapter 1. Introduction: The Journey through Bosnian Wartorn Communities Writing Displacement of Bosnians Practical Challenges Theoretical Challenges Methodological Challenges Reflexive Ethnography Ethics and Politics of the Research Chapter 2. Klotjevac: Forced Displacement and Ethnic Cleansing in an Eastern Bosnian Village Reunion When You Forget July Journey to a Village Once there was a Community Beliefs and Rituals Taboos In ljivovica Veritas Human Geography of the Place Annihilation of a Community The (UN)Safe Area Srebrenica Recognising Genocide Back to the Present Mapping displacement Conclusion Chapter 3. Beyond the Sadness: Narratives of Displacement, Refuge and Homecomings among Bosnian Refugees in Austria Debating Displacement Narrating Displacement Sejo in Vienna Editas Wonderland in Vienna Mapping Editas Lost Home Less than Six Degrees of Separation Between Edita and Ibro Prijedor RegionBlueprint for Ethnic Cleansing Massacre in Hegii Massacre in Brdo Edita, Ibro and Sejo in Austria Editas Homecoming Torn Between Home and Exile, Past and Present Chapter 4. (Dis)Placing Memories: Monuments, Memorials and Commemorations in Postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina The Funeral at Hegii Omarska Keraterm and Trnopolje Srebrenica/Potoari Commemorations Mostar Carrying its Cross Sarajevo Remembers Chapter 5. Reframing Identity in Places of Pain: A Photographic Essay of Displacement and Memory Chapter 6. Translocal Diasporic Communities in the Age of Transnationalism: Bosnians in Australia, Europe and the US Debating Diaspora Emergence of the Bosnian Diaspora One Family, Two Languages, Many Cultures German Bosnians in Sweden and Aussie Bosnians from Germany The Translocal Within the Transnational Brko in Melbourne Strengthening Unity through Intermarriage Other Forms of Translocalism in Action Formation of Translocal Diasporic Communities Conclusion Chapter 7. Measuring the Pain of Others: Gendered Displacement, Memory and Identity Recounting the Displaced Not in My Front Yard!: The Case of Fata Orlovi Ethnic Engineering Uncounted Collateral Damage: The Case of Aunty Edina (Mis)using IDPs RefugeeWomen in Diaspora Mothers Children Chapter 8. Concluding the Journey through Bosnian Wartorn Communities Bosnian Vikings Bosnian Midwesterners Vienna Blues Unearthing the Missing in Bosnia From St Louis to St Albans: All Roads Lead to Hannas Caf Bibliography