‘And now I feel I don’t have a clear future’: Hauntings and temporal uncertainty in refugee narratives.

Tine Brøndum

doi:10.1093/jrs/feaf011

‘And now I feel I don’t have a clear future’: Hauntings and temporal uncertainty in refugee narratives.

Tine Brøndum

Aarhus Universitet

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftsartikel › Forskning › peer review

Abstract

This article explores how people living in displacement remember experiences of fleeing and arriving to Denmark. Through the analysis of 15 life stories of people living in displacement, the article addresses how people narratively reconstruct memories of forced migration, and how they experience and adapt to new social rules and regulations. The study is situated in a time in which Danish refugee protection and residence permits have been made permanently temporary and is given only on a two-year basis. In this context, the article explores how past and present experiences of temporality, waiting and agency are formed in relation to peoples’ experiences of stability.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Artikelnummer	feaf011
Tidsskrift	Journal of Refugee Studies
Vol/bind	38
Udgave nummer	3
Sider (fra-til)	526-540
Antal sider	15
ISSN	0951-6328
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaf011
Status	Udgivet - 1 sep. 2025
Udgivet eksternt	Ja

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10.1093/jrs/feaf011

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Citationsformater

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title = "{\textquoteleft}And now I feel I don{\textquoteright}t have a clear future{\textquoteright}: Hauntings and temporal uncertainty in refugee narratives.",

abstract = "As a consequence of the so-called {\textquoteleft}paradigm shift{\textquoteright}, that defines all refugee protection as temporary, the last decade has seen the focus for refugee administration in Denmark move from {\textquoteleft}integration{\textquoteright} towards {\textquoteleft}repatriation and self-provision{\textquoteright}. Through analysis of life stories from people arriving to Denmark as refugees before and after this shift, this article examines how people seeking protection experience and make meaning of their new reality as refugees within the Danish welfare state. Drawing on the perspectives of narrativity and hauntology, that acknowledges the workings of past injustices in the present, the analysis shows that people living in temporary protection experience being kept waiting in a never-ending present. Uncertain waiting destroys people{\textquoteright}s sense of agency and belonging and counteracts their ability to reorient themselves towards a meaningful future. The article suggests that this ongoing uncertainty conjures up ghosts from the past that reappear and continue to haunt and ruin their present lives.",

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N2 - As a consequence of the so-called ‘paradigm shift’, that defines all refugee protection as temporary, the last decade has seen the focus for refugee administration in Denmark move from ‘integration’ towards ‘repatriation and self-provision’. Through analysis of life stories from people arriving to Denmark as refugees before and after this shift, this article examines how people seeking protection experience and make meaning of their new reality as refugees within the Danish welfare state. Drawing on the perspectives of narrativity and hauntology, that acknowledges the workings of past injustices in the present, the analysis shows that people living in temporary protection experience being kept waiting in a never-ending present. Uncertain waiting destroys people’s sense of agency and belonging and counteracts their ability to reorient themselves towards a meaningful future. The article suggests that this ongoing uncertainty conjures up ghosts from the past that reappear and continue to haunt and ruin their present lives.

AB - As a consequence of the so-called ‘paradigm shift’, that defines all refugee protection as temporary, the last decade has seen the focus for refugee administration in Denmark move from ‘integration’ towards ‘repatriation and self-provision’. Through analysis of life stories from people arriving to Denmark as refugees before and after this shift, this article examines how people seeking protection experience and make meaning of their new reality as refugees within the Danish welfare state. Drawing on the perspectives of narrativity and hauntology, that acknowledges the workings of past injustices in the present, the analysis shows that people living in temporary protection experience being kept waiting in a never-ending present. Uncertain waiting destroys people’s sense of agency and belonging and counteracts their ability to reorient themselves towards a meaningful future. The article suggests that this ongoing uncertainty conjures up ghosts from the past that reappear and continue to haunt and ruin their present lives.

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‘And now I feel I don’t have a clear future’: Hauntings and temporal uncertainty in refugee narratives.

Abstract

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