Photography, memory and refugee identity : the voyage of the SS Walnut, 1948 / Lynda Mannik.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mannik, Lynda, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Walnut (Ship)--History--Pictorial works.

Walnut (Ship).

Estonians--Canada--History--Pictorial works.

Estonians.

Refugees--Estonia--History--Pictorial works.

Refugees.

Refugees--Canada--History--Pictorial works.

Photography in ethnology--Canada.

Photography in ethnology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 p.)

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : UBC Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

On 13 December 1948, a small ship carrying 347 Estonian refugees fleeing Soviet rule arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax. In Photography, Memory, and Refugee Identity, anthropologist Lynda Mannik analyzes the refugee experience through the photographic record of those who made that harrowing voyage across the Atlantic more than sixty years ago. Drawing on a collection of photographs taken during the voyage and at the Pier 21 detention centre, Mannik asks surviving passengers to describe their migration, their reception in Canada, and their feelings about the terms refugee and boat person. She explores to what extent the photos reflect the passengers' experiences as they remember them and how those experiences compare with representations of refugees in news media, in government rhetoric, and at the Pier 21 Museum in Halifax. Ultimately, Mannik demonstrates that the photographs in the SS Walnut collection bear witness to the refugee experience even as the meanings attached to them have changed over time and in shifting contexts.

Contents:

Introduction

1 Passengers' Photographic Perspectives on the Voyage and Detention, 1948-49

2 Arrival by Boat and the Media, 1948

3 Still Photos Come to Life at the Pier 21 Museum in 1999

4 Memories and Stories, Sixty Years Later

5 Nationalism and Identity in Retrospect

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-7748-2444-1

0-7748-2446-8

OCLC:

826436700