Page - 155 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 2/2016

Mobile Culture Studies.The Journal 2 2o16 Lisa Eidenhammer| Encounters with a Syrian 155 the regime turned into a violent confrontation with the police and the army. Omar could not see a future for himself in Syria, which is why he attempted the long and weary journey which finally led him to Austria. Here, he writes and has found a new home. Frequently, he puts his fears and sorrows into lyrics to get them from troubling his mind. Therefore, he feels most at home in his poems (Khir Alanam 2016b). Conclusion The process of the converging of two people from two seemingly different worlds is at the core of this article. On the day of the van attack in Graz, we became aware of our different perceptions of this act of violence. Gradually, we noticed that we were moving towards each other, despite out completely different experiences from our respective pasts, which tinted our perceptions of the event. We were both of the opinion that violence against innocent people, whether it be exceptional case or a systematic mechanism of violence, must always be con- demned. Nonetheless, our emotions and perceptions were rather different. To Omar, who had himself experienced torture in Syria, violence had become a part of every day reality; to me, it remained extraordinary. During the research process, a dynamic of mutual interest developed. Repeatedly, we revol- ved around a determination of the Self and the Other, and the feeling of wanting to understand the other as well as the desire to be understood in return. Several times we used art, music, literature, films etc. to find new impetus for our discussions, in which we gradually moved together, one step at a time. References Al-Azm, Sadik J. 2014. ‘Nicht-Handeln verschärft Konflikt in Syrien. Interview mit Andrea Pollmeier aus Syrien’, in Innenansichten aus Syrien, edited by Larissa Bender (Frankfurt am Main: Edition Faust ), 18-29. Atassi, Ali. Lüttich, Christin. 2014. ‘Wir wollen den Alltag zeigen. Interview mit Ines Kappert aus Syrien’, in Innenansichten aus Syrien, edited by Larissa Bender (Frankfurt am Main: Edi- tion Faust ), 172-176. Bender, Larissa. 2014. ‘Vorbemerkung‘ in Innenansichten aus Syrien, edited by Larissa Bender (Frankfurt am Main: Edition Faust ), 9-11. Bourdieu, Pierre. et al., eds., 1997. Das Elend der Welt. Zeugnisse und Diagnosen alltäglichen Leidens an der Gesellschaft. (Konstanz: UVK Universitätsverlag), [Original edition: La misère du monde, Paris 1993.] Europäisches Parlament Informationsbüro in Österreich. 2015 ‘Die Syrien-Krise in Zahlen: Flüchtlinge, Asylwerber und EU-Hilfsmittel‘ <http://www.europarl.at/de/aktuell-presse/mel- dungen/2015_meldungen/juni_2015/pr-2015-juni-25.html> [accessed 2015-12-15] Haddad, Fawwaz. 2014. ‘Ein neuer Blick auf die glücklichen Demokratien’, in Innenansichten aus Syrien, edited by Larissa Bender (Frankfurt am Main: Edition Faust ), 30-37. Lindner, Rolf. 2003. ‘Vom Wesen der Kulturanalyse‘, in Zeitschrift für Volkskunde 99 (2003), 177-187.