Rites of Return: Diaspora Poetics and the Politics of Memory (Gender and Culture Series)

The first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed a passionate engagement with the losses of the past. Rites of Return examines the effects of this legacy of historical injustice and documented suffering on the politics of the present. Twenty-four writers, historians, literary and cultural critics, anthropologists and sociologists, visual artists, legal scholars, and curators grapple with our contemporary ethical endeavor to redress enduring inequities and retrieve lost histories. Mapping bold and broad-based responses to past injury across Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, Australia, the Middle East, and the United States, Rites of Return examines new technologies of genetic and genealogical research, memoirs about lost family histories, the popularity of roots-seeking journeys, organized trauma tourism at sites of atrocity and new Museums of Conscience, and profound connections between social rites and political and legal rights of return. Contributors include: Lila Abu-Lughod, Columbia University; Nadia Abu El-Haj, Barnard College; Elazar Barkan, Columbia University; Svetlana Boym, Harvard University; Saidiya Hartman, Columbia University; Amira Hass, journalist; Jarrod Hayes, University of Michigan; Marianne Hirsch, Columbia University; Eva Hoffman, writer; Margaret Homans, Yale University; Rosanne Kennedy, Australian National University; Daniel Mendelsohn, writer; Susan Meiselas, photographer; Nancy K. Miller, CUNY Graduate Center; Alondra Nelson, Columbia University; Jay Prosser, University of Leeds; Liz Sevchenko, Coalition of Museums of Conscience; Leo Spitzer, Dartmouth College; Marita Sturken New York University; Diana Taylor, New York University; Patricia J. Williams, Columbia University Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 12 Introduction......Page 18 Part I Tangled Roots and New Genealogies......Page 38 1. The Factness of Diaspora: The Social Sources of Genetic Genealogy......Page 40 2. Jews—Lost and Found: Genetic History and the Evidentiary Terrain of Recognition......Page 57 3. The Web and the Reunion......Page 76 4. Queering Roots, Queering Diaspora......Page 89 5. Indigenous Australian Arts of Return: Mediating Perverse Archives......Page 105 Part II Genres of Return......Page 122 6. Memoirs of Return......Page 124 7. Return to Half-Ruins: Fathers and Daughters, Memory and History in Palestine......Page 141 8. Singing with the Taxi Driver: From Bollywood to Babylon......Page 154 9. Off -Modern Homecoming in Art and Theory......Page 168 10. Return to Nicaragua: The Aftermath of Hope......Page 183 Part III Rights of Return......Page 188 11. Between Two Returns......Page 190 12. Adoption and Return: Transnational Genealogies, Maternal Legacies......Page 202 13. Foreign Correspondence......Page 217 14. “O Give Me a Home”......Page 233 15. The Politics of Return: When Rights Become Rites......Page 244 Part IV. Sites of Return and the New Tourism of Witness......Page 256 16. Sites of Conscience: Lighting Up Dark Tourism......Page 258 17. Kishinev Redux: Pogrom, Purim, Patrimony......Page 271 18. Trauma as Durational Performance: A Return to Dark Sites......Page 285 19. Pilgrimages, Reenactment, and Souvenirs: Modes of Memory Tourism......Page 297 Contributors......Page 312 Index......Page 316 The Factness Of Diaspora: The Social Sources Of Genetic Genealogy / Alondra Nelson -- Jews, Lost And Found: Genetic History And The Evidentiary Terrain Of Recognition / Nadia Abu El-haj -- The Web And The Reunion: Http://czernowitz.ehpes.com / Marianne Hirsch, Leo Spitzer -- Queering Roots, Queering Diaspora / Jarrod Hayes -- Indigenous Australian Arts Of Return: Mediating Perverse Archives / Rosanne Kennedy -- Memoirs Of Return / Saidiya Hartman [and Others] -- Return To Half-ruins: Fathers And Daughters, Memory And History In Palestine / Lila Abu-lughod -- Singing With The Taxi Driver: From Bollywood To Babylon / Jay Prosser -- Off-modern Homecoming In Art And Theory / Svetlana Boym -- Return To Nicaragua: The Aftermath Of Hope / Susan Meiselas -- Between Two Returns / Amira Hass -- Adoption And Return: Transnational Genealogies, Maternal Legacies / Margaret Homans -- Foreign Correspondence / Sonali Thakkar -- O Give Me A Home / Patricia J. Williams ; Images From New Orleans / Keith Calhoun, Chandra Mccormick -- The Politics Of Return: When Rights Become Rites / Elazar Barkan -- Sites Of Conscience: Lighting Up Dark Tourism / Liz Ševčenko -- Kishinev Redux: Pogrom, Purim, Patrimony / Nancy K. Miller -- Trauma As Durational Performance: A Return To Dark Sites / Diana Taylor -- Pilgrimages, Reenactment, And Souvenirs: Modes Of Memory Tourism / Marita Sturken. Edited By Marianne Hirsch And Nancy K. Miller. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The first decade of the twenty-first century has witnessed a passionate engagement with the losses of the past. Rites of Return examines the widespread effects of a legacy of historical injustice and documented suffering on the politics of the present. This collection of original essays devoted to feminist diasporic studies maps bold and broad-based responses to past injury across Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, Australia, the Middle East, and the United States. It examines new technologies of genetic and genealogical research, memoirs about lost family histories, the populari