Negotiating paradise lost: Refugee narratives of pre-war Syria – A discursive approach to memory, metaphors and religious identifications

Abstract

How are social relations and ethno-religious identifications of pre-war Syria remembered and narrated by Syrian refugees in exile? Crossing the abyss of war, and negotiated through the shifting times and sites of forced displacement, this article addresses Syrian refugee narratives as discursive practices that attempt to reclaim an irretrievably lost terrain. The metaphor of a ‘paradise lost’ is an unmistakable component of the Syrian refugees’ stories, illustrating multiple understandings of ‘paradise’ in which memories of the past gain a particularly idealized character. At the same time, however, and to some extent belying this metaphor, there are traces of tension-filled undercurrents that call for a plural reading of the past. Discussed within a theoretical framework of memory, metaphors and religious identifications, the empirical analysis highlights two narrative themes: (1) coexistence and diversity: narratives of intercultural and inter-religious relations and (2) living under authoritarian rule: narratives of fear and compliance. Leading up to the revolution and subsequent civil war, these narratives display the ambivalent ways in which Syrian refugees conceptualize the past.

The politics and poetics of migrant narratives

“…Ponzanesi and Waller, 2012) is established -offering rich insights on key questions including who can speak for whom -are migrants the sole legitimate producers of their own experiences or can they be ethically represented by outsiders? Ingrid Løland (2019) in this special issue, for example, analyses how Syrian refugees narrate a 'Paradise Lost' to theorize ambivalent memorymaking of a homeland destroyed by civil war. Related discussions concern questions of cultural identification, belonging and also meta-reflections on the co-optation, canonization, recognition, professionalization and institutionalization of migrant narratives.…”

“…These vests were either left behind by those who managed the sea-crossing, as well as washed-up ashore, either with or without drowned bodies: 'each one of the life jackets that have piled up in the dump represents an individual story, a personal journey, a unique biography' (Gillespie, 2018: 150). Ingrid Løland (2019), in this special issue, describes how Syrian refugees shape memories of pre-war Syria and argues that 'finding ways to listen to and portray Syrian refugee voices allows for a plural reading of shared and contested stories and memories of the past' (p. 14). In many instances, however, migrants' and refugees' voices depend on the mediation of professionals like journalists and humanitarian actors, a second group of stakeholders we turn to in our next section.…”

“…It is then the task of the researcher to bring these different, divergent or at times colliding viewpoints together in a meaningful way, making evidence-based recommendations for change. (d'Haenens and Joris, 2020: 438) The group of actors narrating migration explored in this special issue include diaspora and migrant journalists (Kirk, 2019;Voronova, 2019), government officials and policy makers (Madörin, 2019), migrants and refugees (Dhoest, 2019;Greene, 2019;Løland, 2019), diasporas (Almenara-Niebla and Ascanio-Sánchez, 2019) and social media publics (Bozdağ, 2019). The narration of migration happens through anti-migrant social media memes, visual surveillance, digital fingerprints, asylum interviews, smartphone use, refugee selfies and news accounts.…”

Between Utopia and Dystopia: Sectarianization through Revolution and War in Syrian Refugee Narratives

“…Certainly, before the war, there existed a widely held national narrative of Syria as a harmonious state in which diversity coexisted, and cross-sectarian interaction was embraced as a natural part of the Syrian identity fabric (Løland 2019). This is not to say, however, that religious references were not mobilized from the beginning of the uprising or that sectarian tensions were absent in the Syrian society.…”

“…Rather, what many underpins with both pride and vigor is the multi-ethnic and plural religious character of the Syrian society before the war, where friendship and relations cut across sectarian or religious divides. Subsumed under stories of "paradise lost" (Løland 2019), this grand narrative of conviviality simultaneously hides certain undercurrents of tensions that gained momentum and became intensified during the revolution and emerging war. Through the following stories of Mahmoud, Maryam, Dany, Said, Abdel, Nasser, and Rania, reflections of palpable changes in attitudes concerning people's ethnic, religious, and political affiliations take shape.…”