Page - 40 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

40 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Tuulikki Kurki | Border Crossing Trauma “I swayed between the two worlds, Fin- land and Russia, west and east, and I now stood on this side of the border, still unsteady.” (Konkka 1939, 358). “Was that the border river? How insigni- ficant it looked, and how different worlds it demarcated from each other. Two whole worlds. […] I wish, I could still turn around, and return home […].” (Huurre 1942, 11.) “We had entered a strange country. [...] I must say, everything seemed very confusing.” (Tuominen 1957, 248). Introduction These examples illustrate the experiences of people who have crossed the Finnish–Russian na- tional border. They emphasize a sense of disorientation associated with border crossing, that is often followed by feelings of instability, homelessness and alienation. After crossing a border, a feeling of disorientation is triggered by the encounter with a “world” that appears strange and curious, almost like a fantasy. These examples show poignantly the multifaceted nature of border crossing experiences that are always subject to physical, emotional and cognitive adjust- ment, and it is difficult to differentiate these elements from each other (Johnson et al. 2011, 62–63). In its extremity, border crossing can be a traumatic experience. In a hostile environment, a border crosser can experience or be threatened by witness persecution or even violence. Violence can be targeted at both social and physical bodies, and the violence itself can be both physical as well as discursive, and this has the effects of otherizing, humiliating, and desecrating (Aldama 2003, 8). Furthermore, a border crosser may be forced to permanently leave their home and family, and might not find his or her place in a new country or culture, but rather stay in-between the different cultures, languages and societies. These sudden or insidious border crossing expe- riences can shatter the border crosser’s worldview and identity, and these are regarded as being central signs of cultural trauma (Sztompka 2004, 158–162, 171–175). In addition to personal experiences, historical events such as wars and border conflicts can traumatize people living in the borderlands. In these cases, so-called trans-historical traumas move from one generation to an- other and are “reactivated, reconfigured, and transformed in the present” (LaCapra 1999, 700).