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FROM SUITCASE CHILDREN TO EURO-ORPHANS: CINEMATIC PORTRAYALS

Year 2023, Volume: 13 Issue: 2, 472 - 482, 01.04.2023
https://doi.org/10.7456/tojdac.1230535

Abstract

This study analyses three European films about children left behind by their parents in their home countries due to labour migration. Developed in the German language in the second half of the twentieth century as Kofferkinder (suitcase children), this concept has been called Euro-orphans since the twenty-first century. Although neological concepts and time-space differ, the experiences and traumas of the children and parents concerned are similar. From the 1950s onwards, such family disintegrations affected a noteworthy part of the population immigrating to Germany and other European countries from Greece and Italy and the 1960s onwards, from Turkey. Later, migrant parents from Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Poland left their children with relatives, neighbours or in childcare facilities, which has become an essential sociological fact regarding the migration phenomenon that prevents family reunification and causes lifelong trauma, especially for children. With changing social, political and economic conditions, migration causes children left behind not to receive parental care in the long term. This study reveals the glocality of the issue through a sociological analysis of three films about migration from Turkey, Romania and Poland, selected according to judgemental sampling. According to the findings, Sandstern (2018) depicts the reunification of a Turkish suitcase boy with his parents in Germany and the challenges of his otherness and alienation from a distant history of the 1980s. Calea Dunării (2013) and I am Kuba (2015) tell more contemporary dramas of Euro-Orphans. In conclusion, while the selected films depict children left behind, migration here has an involuntary character as a way of escaping poverty in different times and geographies.

References

  • Alkın, Ö. (2020). Die visuelle Kultur der Migration Geschichte, Ästhetik und Polyzentrierung des Migrationskinos. Transcript. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839450369
  • Antia, K., Boucsein, J., Deckert, A., Dambach, P., Račaitė, J., Šurkienė, G., Jaenisch, T., Horstick, O. & Winkler, V. (2020). Effects of International Labour Migration on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Left-Behind Children: A Systematic Literature Review. In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Vol. 17, Issue 12). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124335
  • Arora, S. (2017). ‘Vulnerable’ children and war cinema: Exploring varying representations of ‘childhood in refuge’ through the film Turtles Can Fly. Consuming the Environment 2017 Multidisciplinary Approaches to Urbanization and Vulnerability, 114–127.
  • Benshoff, H. (2015). Film and television analysis: An introduction to methods, theories, and approaches. Routledge.
  • Bozbay Zuhal. (2019). Bahman Ghobadi Sinemasında Çocuk.
  • Çağlak, U. (2017). Göç ve parçalanmış aile: Göçün ardında kalanların “Dönüş” filmindeki yansımaları. Turkish Studies, 12(13), 135–150.
  • Castles, S., Korac, M., Vasta, E. & Vertovec, S. (2002). Integration: Mapping the Field. Immigration Research and Statistics Service.
  • Celli, C. & Cottino-Jones, M. (2007). A new guide to Italian cinema. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Dorohoi, S. (2013). Calea Dunarii scurtmetraj making of / Way of the Danube shortfilm official making of - YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCVjjUKOvIs Eren Nijhar, S. (2016). Artık Gurbet Yok Mu? Almanya-İsviçre (M. Demir (Ed.)). Ozan Yayıncılık.
  • Favero, P. (2011). Blessed be the good soldier: cinema, media and the manufacturing of nationhood in post 9/11 Italy,“. Archivio Antropologico Mediterraneo, 13(1), 55–66.
  • Frohn, A. (2017). Risse in Beziehungen. Forum Der Psychoanalyse, 33(2), 215–231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00451-017-0265-z
  • Güney, S. (2015). Zor İsimli Çocuklar. İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
  • Karatza-Meents, A. (2014). »Kofferkinder«. PSYCHE, 68(8), 713–734. https://elibrary.klett-cotta.de/article/99.120105/ps-68-8-713
  • Kehya, R. Ö. (2022). Representation of Women in German & Turkish Films in the Context of Migration and Integration. University of Anadolu.
  • Lee, E. S. (1966). A Theory of Migration. Demography, 3(1), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/2060063
  • Lovett, P., & Essoo, G. (2018). Left behind in Romania: ‘Europe’s orphans’ - YouTube. France 24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP9D2LUea50
  • Mogavero, D. (2014). Romania, the EU orphans. Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa. https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Romania/Romania-the-EU-orphans-150351
  • Mustafa: Guestworker No 569716. (1973). BBC. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-46309952
  • Nejezchleba, M. (2013). The plight of Europe′s ′euro orphans′ | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 04.12.2013. DW. https://www.dw.com/en/the-plight-of-europes-euro-orphans/a-17268091
  • Niemiec, R. M. & Wedding, D. (2014). Positive psychology at the movies: Using films to build virtues and character strengths. In Positive psychology at the movies: Using films to build virtues and character strengths.
  • Nocera, L. (2018). Manikürlü Eller Almanya’da Elektrik Bobini Saracak: Toplumsal Cinsiyet Perspektifinden Batı Almanya’ya Türk Göçü (1961-1984) (F. Mat (Trans.)). Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
  • Papoulios, M. (1987). Die „Kofferkinder “. Mutter-Kind-Trennung als Ursache für psychopathologische Reaktionen bei Familien von Arbeitsmigranten. In A. Morten (Ed.), „Hören Sie Stimmen?“ „ Ja, ich höre Sie sehr gut“ (pp. 49–52). Verlag Jakob von Hoddis.
  • Pissin, A. (2014). The Global Left Behind Child in China:’unintended Consequences’ in Capitalism (Working Papers in Contemporary Asian Studies; No. 39). Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University.
  • Rossi, A. (2014). The Impact of Migration on Children Left Behind in Developing Countries: Outcomes Analysis and Data Requirements. SSRN, 1–39. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2490380
  • Wilhelm, G. (2011a). Generation Koffer: die zurückgelassenen Kinder. Orlanda.
  • Wilhelm, G. (2011b). Identität ǀ Das Los der Kofferkinder — der Freitag. https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/das-los-der-kofferkinder
  • Xu, J. H. (2021). Telling The Stories of Left-Behind Children in China From Diary Collection to Digital Filmmaking. #IFM Journal, 1(2), 82–99.
  • Yolcu, Ö. (2022). Analysis of The Characters In The Film Return [Dönüş](1972) Within A Feminist Film Critique. Cinema and Gender: Different Examples of Turkish Cinema, 1, 41–62.

BAVUL ÇOCUKLARDAN AVRUPA'NIN YETİMLERİNE: SİNEMA TASVİRLERİ

Year 2023, Volume: 13 Issue: 2, 472 - 482, 01.04.2023
https://doi.org/10.7456/tojdac.1230535

Abstract

Bu çalışma, emek göçü nedeniyle ebeveynleri tarafından kendi ülkelerinde geride bırakılan çocukları konu alan üç Avrupa filmini incelemektedir. Yirminci yüzyılın ikinci yarısında Alman dilinde Kofferkinder (bavul çocukları) olarak geliştirilen bu kavram, yirmi birinci yüzyıldan itibaren Euro-yetimler olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Neolojik kavramlar ve zaman-mekân farklılık gösterse de, söz konusu çocukların ve ebeveynlerin deneyimleri ve travmaları benzerdir. Bu tür aile parçalanmaları 1950'lerden itibaren Yunanistan ve İtalya'dan, 1960'lardan itibaren de Türkiye'den Almanya'ya ve diğer Avrupa ülkelerine göç eden nüfusun kayda değer bir bölümünü etkilemiştir. Daha sonra Romanya, Bulgaristan, Moldova ve Polonya'dan gelen göçmen ebeveynlerin çocuklarını akrabalarına, komşularına veya çocuk bakım kurumlarına bırakmaları, aile birleşimini engelleyen ve özellikle çocuklar için yaşam boyu travmaya neden olan göç olgusuna ilişkin önemli bir sosyolojik gerçek haline gelmiştir. Değişen sosyal, siyasi ve ekonomik koşullarla birlikte göç, geride kalan çocukların uzun vadede ebeveyn bakımı alamamasına neden olmaktadır. Bu çalışma, yargısal örnekleme göre seçilen Türkiye, Romanya ve Polonya'dan göç konulu üç filmin sosyolojik analizi yoluyla konunun küyerelliğini ortaya koymaktadır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre Sandstern (2018), bir Türk bavul çocuğun Almanya'daki ailesiyle yeniden bir araya gelişini ve 1980'lerin uzak geçmişinden gelen ötekilik ve yabancılaşma sorunlarını tasvir etmektedir. Calea Dunării (2013) ve I am Kuba (2015) ise daha güncel Avrupalı yetim dramlarını anlatmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, seçilen filmlerde geride kalan çocukların tasviri yapılırken buradaki göç, farklı zaman ve coğrafyalarda yoksulluktan kaçmanın bir yolu olarak gönülsüz bir niteliğe sahiptir.

References

  • Alkın, Ö. (2020). Die visuelle Kultur der Migration Geschichte, Ästhetik und Polyzentrierung des Migrationskinos. Transcript. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839450369
  • Antia, K., Boucsein, J., Deckert, A., Dambach, P., Račaitė, J., Šurkienė, G., Jaenisch, T., Horstick, O. & Winkler, V. (2020). Effects of International Labour Migration on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Left-Behind Children: A Systematic Literature Review. In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Vol. 17, Issue 12). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124335
  • Arora, S. (2017). ‘Vulnerable’ children and war cinema: Exploring varying representations of ‘childhood in refuge’ through the film Turtles Can Fly. Consuming the Environment 2017 Multidisciplinary Approaches to Urbanization and Vulnerability, 114–127.
  • Benshoff, H. (2015). Film and television analysis: An introduction to methods, theories, and approaches. Routledge.
  • Bozbay Zuhal. (2019). Bahman Ghobadi Sinemasında Çocuk.
  • Çağlak, U. (2017). Göç ve parçalanmış aile: Göçün ardında kalanların “Dönüş” filmindeki yansımaları. Turkish Studies, 12(13), 135–150.
  • Castles, S., Korac, M., Vasta, E. & Vertovec, S. (2002). Integration: Mapping the Field. Immigration Research and Statistics Service.
  • Celli, C. & Cottino-Jones, M. (2007). A new guide to Italian cinema. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Dorohoi, S. (2013). Calea Dunarii scurtmetraj making of / Way of the Danube shortfilm official making of - YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCVjjUKOvIs Eren Nijhar, S. (2016). Artık Gurbet Yok Mu? Almanya-İsviçre (M. Demir (Ed.)). Ozan Yayıncılık.
  • Favero, P. (2011). Blessed be the good soldier: cinema, media and the manufacturing of nationhood in post 9/11 Italy,“. Archivio Antropologico Mediterraneo, 13(1), 55–66.
  • Frohn, A. (2017). Risse in Beziehungen. Forum Der Psychoanalyse, 33(2), 215–231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00451-017-0265-z
  • Güney, S. (2015). Zor İsimli Çocuklar. İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
  • Karatza-Meents, A. (2014). »Kofferkinder«. PSYCHE, 68(8), 713–734. https://elibrary.klett-cotta.de/article/99.120105/ps-68-8-713
  • Kehya, R. Ö. (2022). Representation of Women in German & Turkish Films in the Context of Migration and Integration. University of Anadolu.
  • Lee, E. S. (1966). A Theory of Migration. Demography, 3(1), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/2060063
  • Lovett, P., & Essoo, G. (2018). Left behind in Romania: ‘Europe’s orphans’ - YouTube. France 24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP9D2LUea50
  • Mogavero, D. (2014). Romania, the EU orphans. Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa. https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Romania/Romania-the-EU-orphans-150351
  • Mustafa: Guestworker No 569716. (1973). BBC. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-46309952
  • Nejezchleba, M. (2013). The plight of Europe′s ′euro orphans′ | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 04.12.2013. DW. https://www.dw.com/en/the-plight-of-europes-euro-orphans/a-17268091
  • Niemiec, R. M. & Wedding, D. (2014). Positive psychology at the movies: Using films to build virtues and character strengths. In Positive psychology at the movies: Using films to build virtues and character strengths.
  • Nocera, L. (2018). Manikürlü Eller Almanya’da Elektrik Bobini Saracak: Toplumsal Cinsiyet Perspektifinden Batı Almanya’ya Türk Göçü (1961-1984) (F. Mat (Trans.)). Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
  • Papoulios, M. (1987). Die „Kofferkinder “. Mutter-Kind-Trennung als Ursache für psychopathologische Reaktionen bei Familien von Arbeitsmigranten. In A. Morten (Ed.), „Hören Sie Stimmen?“ „ Ja, ich höre Sie sehr gut“ (pp. 49–52). Verlag Jakob von Hoddis.
  • Pissin, A. (2014). The Global Left Behind Child in China:’unintended Consequences’ in Capitalism (Working Papers in Contemporary Asian Studies; No. 39). Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University.
  • Rossi, A. (2014). The Impact of Migration on Children Left Behind in Developing Countries: Outcomes Analysis and Data Requirements. SSRN, 1–39. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2490380
  • Wilhelm, G. (2011a). Generation Koffer: die zurückgelassenen Kinder. Orlanda.
  • Wilhelm, G. (2011b). Identität ǀ Das Los der Kofferkinder — der Freitag. https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/das-los-der-kofferkinder
  • Xu, J. H. (2021). Telling The Stories of Left-Behind Children in China From Diary Collection to Digital Filmmaking. #IFM Journal, 1(2), 82–99.
  • Yolcu, Ö. (2022). Analysis of The Characters In The Film Return [Dönüş](1972) Within A Feminist Film Critique. Cinema and Gender: Different Examples of Turkish Cinema, 1, 41–62.
There are 28 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Communication and Media Studies
Journal Section Makaleler
Authors

R.özgün Kehya 0000-0002-4695-3689

Publication Date April 1, 2023
Submission Date January 6, 2023
Acceptance Date February 23, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 13 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Kehya, R. (2023). FROM SUITCASE CHILDREN TO EURO-ORPHANS: CINEMATIC PORTRAYALS. Turkish Online Journal of Design Art and Communication, 13(2), 472-482. https://doi.org/10.7456/tojdac.1230535


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