What does it mean to be-at-home?

This week we've covered articles from Sara Ahmed (Home and Away) and Judith G. Millers (Thinking about theather Within World of Literature in French) and Ofcourse I shouldn't forget mentioning about the play 'Fransa Ben de Geldim' by Halil Üstündağ.

Starting with the play, I don't know if any of you have enjoyed reading the script in literary ways but to me it was something a bit less than disastrous. Though there was something that kept me to read it till the end, may be a hope that through the end it might at least get into something meaningfull? Later when I checked internet for some information about the author, I've found out when this play was screened at 2007 and that the writer was also running the place where this and many other plays had also been screened already for five years back in 2007. Surprisingly enough this in a way meant that these plays (i know its a hasty generalization but I'm just assuming that more or less the other plays are in the same level of excellence) are actually appreciated by the audience/ turkish imigrants in France, where  to me at least this one was a immature play in both language and being full of stereotypings. The only  explanation to this stiuation came to my mind that other than being the place for socializing, these plays should actually be something that their audince find themselves in both in terms of language and the subject matter. This  I think is something which we can actually releate with the previous weeks readings.

Skipping the play for now today I would like to share a movie with you. My grandpapa's people,  some of you might have already watched it but for the rest you can watch it from here. And yes there are english subs available!

The movie is written and directed by Çağan Irmak. In the movie you can see migratition, exile, sense of belonging and not belonging to a place/home, political views, and ofcourse in case of Turkey a coup, no way without :), which all falls under the genre of a drama.

I don't want to give you the full synopsis and spoil it all in case you may want to watch but at many points while watching the movie you'll remember Sarah Ahmed's article and will make direct linkages with the movie. We sure can talk more about in class but for now if I had to mention some of them...

When you watch the relation of grandfather Mehmet Efendi and grandson Ozan, when he tells how they migrated from Crete to İzmir it's no way that you cannot remember this excerpt from Ahmed "Migration is not only felt at the level of lived embodiment. Migration is also a matter of generational acts of story-telling about prior histories of movement and dislocation. I remember being told about my family’s migration

to the newly created Pakistan in 1947..." 

And more, grandfathers own experience is also very interesting where he lefts 'home' Crete at a very early age. and we watch as he wanders around throughout his life the home metaphore is always out there. 

And another thing you'll see and which I think might also give be something new to our exchange friends is about the population exchange when you see the old lady in greece can we think of it as a nomadic experience of language of Chambers notion as Ahmed mentions in her article. 

At the end of the movie we see grown up grandson in search for his actual roots 'home' where 'they have originated'. Here comes the individual memeory vs collective memory and the compensatiton between into the question. 

When I made a final look at my post I've sensed that I've written about the movie ' My Granpapa's People' as it was already an assigned thing. Of course there's no obligations but I really do think that it has strong connections with this weeks readings and strongly recommend it if you have time and interest in turkish cinema.