Page - 48 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

48 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Tuulikki Kurki | Border Crossing Trauma Personal trauma, both the trauma of a victim and of a perpetrator, changed Riikka’s experience of the world and her idea of herself. For her, the world became distorted, twisted in propor- tions, and lost its harmony. Riikka knows that her old self has changed permanently, and there is no chance of return. She recognizes herself not only as a victim, but also as a perpetrator. She tries simultaneously to understand these experiences and also to forget them. Through the painting Black Square, her internal pain and the chaotic world she inhabits translates into the language of modern art, in the forms of abstractions, controlled shapes and colours. The similar symbol of a burning window which appears as a red square, is also a symbol of her death, a tragic combination of pain and pleasure together with her enemy that finally relieves her from her agony. Crossing Symbolic Borders: A Distorted Mirror and a Claustrophobic Corridor Symposium of Petrozavodsk (2001) examines the symbolic border crossing from the Soviet to the post-Soviet eras. It depicts the end of the 1980s in the town of Petrozavodsk, in the North- West Soviet Union when the Soviet Union is disintegrating. The events are narrated through the viewpoint of a writer Pauli who is also encountered as a Fool. Together with his friends, Pauli tries to control personal and professional aspects of his life, but life gradually turns into a nightmare. Their attempts to control their lives are connected with the problematic position of the Finnish ethnonational minority in the Soviet Union; a group of border crossers that Pauli also represents. The place of the ethnonational group is disappearing and becoming non-exis- tent in the Soviet Union and Russia, as well as in Finland, and in effect, they are not welcome “here” nor “there” (Perttu 2001, 110). The realization of not having a place or home is a trau- matic experience for Pauli. In addition, the transition from the Soviet era to the post-Soviet era is depicted as an over- whelming experience that becomes a principal factor in defining the identities and life courses of Pauli and his friends. In Russian society, this transition has generally been described as a traumatic experience that profoundly changed the lives of all Soviet citizens, and shattered the former Soviet identities (Sztompka 2004, 158–162, 171–175). The situation has demanded the creation of new history narratives, and also the formation of new identities for former So- viet citizens. What is controversial in this traumatic event is that whilst nearly everyone saw the disintegration of the Soviet Union as a positive event, very few Soviet citizens were prepared to live in a society that had changed so profoundly after the collapse had taken place (Sztompka 2004, 171). Arvi Perttu uses the metaphors of a broken mirror and a dark, claustrophobic corridor when examining individuals’ experiences of their disintegrating society and also when crossing the symbolic border to the post-Soviet era. In the novel, the surrounding society is in a state of chaos, and both the past and the fu- ture have turned out to be illusionary concepts as the Soviet Union disintegrates. The idea of a shared Soviet space is also deconstructed (Beumers 2012), and in the midst of the chaos, Pauli comprehends that his life is also disintegrating and he becomes unsure of his identity: “I cannot perceive the multiplicity of the world, and therefore, my normal state of mind is confusion and irresolution” (Perttu 2001, 11). He studies himself in a broken bathroom mirror where his unrecognizable image is mirrored countless times, and he sees an image of an old lady replacing his face. The situation makes him doubt his own sanity, and ponder which of the images is real