Up until now, I know I have probably given off the impression that the whole purpose to my stay in Switzerland is to eat chocolate, make coffee, and run away from birds. You see, during my first several weeks here, my research wasn't exactly hunky-dory, and it seems that the more confused or frustrated I am, the more my blog becomes a bit trite and silly. However, now that I've managed to take a picture with the ugliest bird alive and have had to stop buying chocolate because I've made myself sick one too many times, it is time for me to talk about what I am actually doing here.
Yet, we can't simply just jump in with my research topic; so let's go back about seven weeks to my second day in Switzerland. It was my first meeting with my supervising professor here. Nervous, jet lagged, and confused, I showed up to our meeting fifty minutes late after a little misunderstanding. In any case, I managed to come prepared with some notes, a list of planned interviews and contacts, and a timeline. Originally, I had applied and received the ThinkSwiss grant to research issues of identity and justice surrounding art reparations following the Holocaust. However, during that first meeting, my professor told me that he thought we should do another topic, one that was more interesting to me. Although I tried to explain that this topic was my idea, and that I had been following art reparations for years, he ended up being a good deal more adamant than I. Reluctantly, I relinquished my original research idea and began the search for a new one.
Unfortunately, in Hilaryland, focus is a bit of a rare commodity. Hence, a good part of the first portion of my stay in Switzerland was simply finding a new topic. My searching took me to Amsterdam, various monuments, cemeteries, a concentration camp, and numerous libraries. About three weeks ago, I began to finally settle upon a new topic: death and nationality.
Benedict Anderson, who wrote Imagined Communities, the first major book about nationality, claims that our concept of nation first took root in the printing of vernacular languages. However, it seems to me that mere language isn't enough to convince people to lay down their lives for a country. What is it that makes our affiliation with a nation state so strong and potent? How does death play a part in strengthening social ties? Particularly, are enemies and sacrificial bloodletting necessary in national building?
Cheery, no?
Along with settling in with a topic, I am more easily finding my way around the libraries in Basel. This too is contributing to an alleviation of my angsty control-freak ways. That having been said, I was unfortunately wrong in thinking that I would be allowed to check any books out from any of the libraries. Apparently, since I am an Auslanderin (foreigner), I cannot leave the libraries with any books. In one respect, I suppose this is nice because now I am forced to work within a certain time. On the other hand, sitting in the same library reading about death for several hours on end is driving me a bit bonkers.
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