Page - 52 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 4/2018

52 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Tuulikki Kurki | Border Crossing Trauma of the national border, and apply several cultural codes when writing about the history and contemporary border crossers in the Finnish¬–Russian borderlands (Kurki 2018, 352–53). Due to the multi-dimensionality of his novels, the representations of the traumatic events can be understood from several simultaneous, and sometimes contradictory, viewpoints. This can promote discussions on trans-historical traumas and the formation of the post-memory (Hirsch 2008, 105) of the traumatizing events. One of the contributions of Perttu’s novels in constructing collective and cultural memo- ry lies dormant in the idea of hyperspace. In this article, hyperspace is seen as a de-territorial space that is based on the traumatic experiences associated with the shared border and related mobility (Kurki 2016a; Kurki 2018, 351–52; Kurki and Kaskinen 2019, forthcoming). This hyperspace can emerge virtually, for example, in an artwork and the reception of the artwork in an installation space. The hyperspace can serve as a basis for constructing borderland, trau- matic, and mobile identities. This definition comes close to the idea of a cyber space as a means to share and understand trauma, as introduced by Michelle Balaev: “Trauma is understood by locating its meaning in the new space of the internet – cyber space – that redefines the meaning of traumatic memory and its impact on identity” (Balaev 2014, 19). Hyperspace includes the elements of both the ‘hyperspace’ and ‘hyperscape’, as defined by literature scholars Fredrik Jameson (1991, 15–16) and Hazel Smith (2000, 54–56), as well as by folklorist Tok Thompson (2013). The hyperspace can be seen as “a new type of textual, political, and subjective space,” where individuals do not necessarily hold a stable position for themselves, or cannot orient in that space (Jameson 2009, 15–16; Smith 2000, 1, 54–56). The hyperspace can function as a basis for decentred, de-territorial, and emergent identities, and a basis for re-defining trauma- tized identities. Therefore, the concept of hyperspace may challenge the territorially or nation- ally oriented definitions of identity that often tend to homogenize the identities of people living in various borderland areas. When the experiences of the border crossers and their traumatic experiences come to the fore, emphatic understandings of mobility and border crossing can be created. This can also increase the understanding of mobility experiences in today’s world. The dominating discourses on borders, borderlands, mobility and migrating people do not always recognize the micro-level experiences and understandings about borders and mobility. Nevertheless, a recognition of these micro-level experiences and understandings are vital for the border crosser’s survival and their future life after their overwhelming experiences, as well as providing a means for understanding the trans-historical traumas which occur at various borderlands. Acknowledgments This article is part of the research project Traumatized Borders: Reviving Subversive Narra- tives of B/Order, and Other (Project number SA 297533). Bibliography and references Aarelaid-Tart, Aili. 2006. Cultural Trauma and Life Stories (Helsinki: Aleksanteri Institute). Abashin, Sergei. 2012. ‘Nation-construction in post-Soviet Central Asia’, in Mark Bassin and Catri- ona Kelly, eds., Soviet and Post-Soviet Identities (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 150–68.