240530 SE Slovenian Diaspora and Return Mobilities: Art, Place and Memory (P4) (2018S)

At least since the late 19th century Slovenia (as a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the WWI and even in socialist Yugoslavia after the WWII) has been included in important migration processes. Most of these migration flows have been well documented and explored in a large body of scholarly literature primarily focused on Slovenian emigration to European and non-European countries with a recent pronounced shift of focus on flows immigration. Return, however has not been extensively and systematically explored in this context and region, despite some excellent studies on either return migration or other forms of return mobilities in southeast Europe.
In the cycle of visiting lectures at the University in Vienna I will present the following topics:
1. Migration, transnationalism, diaspora and return as main analytical concepts (2hrs);
2. Socio-historical contexts of migration flows from/to Slovenia (2hrs);
3. Slovenian diasporas: Art, place and return mobilities (4hrs).

The lectures will mainly focus on the concept of place and return mobilities in diasporic contexts both encompass various forms of homeland imagination and ‘returning’ as understood by the migrants and their descendants. I will focus on the experience of migration, establishing transnational connections, life in diaspora and ‘homecoming’, with an emphasis on the question of how social memories and place are explored in creativity and artistic practices. I will also present ethnographic research on return mobilities in Slovenian diaspora in Argentina and relatedness of return with art, place and memory.