
The Suitcase
Refugee Voices from Bosnia and Croatia
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 20. January 1997
Book
Paperback/Softback
267 pages
978-0-520-20634-2 (ISBN)
Description
The whirlwind of Europe's longest war in half a century has produced this powerful collection of personal narratives - essays, letters, and poems - from refugees fleeing Bosnia and Croatia. Taking us behind the barrage of media coverage, these stories tell of perseverance, brutality, forced departure, exile, and courage. With startling immediacy and in moving detail, speakers tell of stuffing a few belongings - a handful of photographs, a rock from the garden, a change of clothes--into a suitcase and fleeing their homeland. Contributors from all ethnic groups and every region of Bosnia and Croatia describe their sense of lost community, memories of those left behind, recollections of town squares that no longer exist, and homes now occupied by neighbors. The editors of "The Suitcase", themselves representing the diverse people of the region, traveled to camps and temporary homes across the globe to collect these stories. An antidote to apathy, this work moves beyond and outside the vicissitudes of daily politics to portray the human tragedy at the center of present-day Bosnia and Croatia.
Probing the intimate losses of countless individuals, it delivers a powerful indictment of injustice, militarism, prejudice, and warfare.
Probing the intimate losses of countless individuals, it delivers a powerful indictment of injustice, militarism, prejudice, and warfare.
More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
20 photos.
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
363 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-20634-2 (9780520206342)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Julie Mertus was a Fulbright scholar, human rights activist, and Professor of Law in Bucharest, Romania. She is now Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at American University. Jasmina Tesanovic is a writer and publisher in Belgrade, Serbia. Habiba Metikos was a lawyer in Sarajevo; she now lives in Canada. Rada Boric is a Director of the Center for Women War Victims in Zagreb, Croatia. Cornel West is Professor of African American Studies at Harvard University and author of Race Matters (1993), among many other books.
Content
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORD
Cornel West
INTRODUCTION
THE SUITCASE
The Journey Out
Dreams of Home
Everyday Refugee Life
Children's Voices
Starting Life Anew
AFTERWORDS
The ABCs of Exile
Dubravka Ugresic
The Face of Women Refugees
from Muslim Communities:
Algeria to Ex-Yugoslavia
Marieme Helie-Lucas
Beyond the Balkans
judith Mayotte
POSTSCRIPT
This Is Not War Talk
Julze Mertus
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
FOREWORD
Cornel West
INTRODUCTION
THE SUITCASE
The Journey Out
Dreams of Home
Everyday Refugee Life
Children's Voices
Starting Life Anew
AFTERWORDS
The ABCs of Exile
Dubravka Ugresic
The Face of Women Refugees
from Muslim Communities:
Algeria to Ex-Yugoslavia
Marieme Helie-Lucas
Beyond the Balkans
judith Mayotte
POSTSCRIPT
This Is Not War Talk
Julze Mertus
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS