Item Details

Haunting Heritage in an Enchanted Land: Magic, Materiality and Second World War German Material Heritage in Finnish Lapland

Issue: Vol 1 No. 2 (2014)

Journal: Journal of Contemporary Archaeology

Subject Areas: Archaeology

DOI: 10.1558/jca.v1i2.18639

Abstract:

This article addresses the functions and meanings of Second World War German material heritage in northern Finland from a haunting perspective and in terms of magical thinking. While archaeologists and heritage professionals have primarily been interested in the historical information that Second World War sites and military material culture may contain, this article explores how encounters and engagements with Second World War materialities in the northern wilderness of Lapland can be considered to affect people and manipulate their perceptions, awareness and understanding of the surrounding world. Second World War sites and matériel may be taken to promote a kind of magical consciousness which enables a degree of restructuring of relationships between the self and world and the past and present.

Author: Vesa-Pekka Herva

View Original Web Page

References :

Ahto, S. 1980. Aseveljet Vastakkain. Helsinki: Kirjayhtymä.


Akkerman, A. 2001. “Urban Planning in the Founding of Cartesian Thought.” Philosophy and Geography 4(2): 141–167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10903770124810


Alaluusua, K. 2005. “Ruostunut Sotaromu Terästyy.” Kaleva 29 July. Available online: http://www.kaleva.fi/uutiset/pohjois-suomi/ruostunut-sotaromu-terastyy/221825/


____. 2006. “Sotaromusta taas Kädenvääntöä.” Kaleva 7 July. Available online: http://www.kaleva.fi/uutiset/pohjois-suomi/sotaromusta-taas-kadenvaantoa/91751/


Andersson Burnett, L. 2010. “Abode of Satan: The Appeal of the Magical and Superstitious North in Eighteenth-Century Britain.” Northern Studies 41: 67–77.


Andreassen, E., H. Bjerck and B. Olsen. 2010. Persistent Memories: Pyramidena Soviet Mining Town in the High Arctic. Trondheim: Tapir Academic Press.


Aupers, S. 2009. “‘The Force is Great’: Enchantment and Magic in Silicon Valley.” Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology 3(1): 153–173.


Baird, D. 2004. Thing Knowledge: A Philosophy of Scientific Instruments. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Belk, R. 1988. “Possessions and the Extended Self.” Journal of Consumer Research 15(2): 139–168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/209154


Bell, M. 1997. “The Ghosts of Place.” Theory and Society 26(6): 813–836. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1006888230610


Burström, M. 2009. “Garbage or Heritage: The Existential Dimension of a Car Cemetery.” In Contemporary Archaeologies: Excavating Now, edited by C. Holtorf and A. Piccini, 131–143. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.


Cameron, E. 2008. “Indigenous Spectrality and the Politics of Postcolonial Ghost Stories.” Cultural Geographies 15(3): 383–393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1474474008091334


Clark, A. 1998. Being There: Putting Brain, Body and World Together Again. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.


____. 2010. Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension. New York: Oxford University Press.


____. and D. Chalmers. 1998. “The Extended Mind.” Analysis 58(1): 7–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/analys/58.1.7


Davidson, P. 2005. The Idea of North. London: Reaktion Books.


Davies, O. 2009. The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts. London: Palgrave Macmillan. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230273948


Derrida J. 1994. Spectres of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International. London: Routledge.


Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof n.d. “Der Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof, Saksalaisten Sotilaiden Hautausmaa/Norvajärvi.” Available online: http://personal.inet.fi/atk/omega/NJsuomi.html


DeSilvey, C. and T. Edensor. 2013. “Reckoning with Ruins.” Progress in Human Geography 37(4): 465–485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132512462271


Douglas, M. 1966. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203361832


Edensor, T. 2005a. “The Ghosts of Industrial Ruins: Ordering and Disordering Memory in Excessive Space.” Environment and Planning D 23: 829–849. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/d58j


____. 2005b. “Waste Matter: The Debris of Industrial Ruins and the Disordering of the Material World.” Journal of Material Culture 10(3): 311–332. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359183505057346


____. 2007. “Sensing the Ruin.” Senses and Society 2(2): 217–232. http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/174589307X203100


Fernandez, K. and J. Lastovicka. 2011. “Making Magic: Fetishes in Contemporary Consumption.” Journal of Consumer Research 38(2): 278–299. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/659079


Frazer, J. 1993 [1922]. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Ware, UK: Wordsworth.


Freud, S. 1959 [1919]. “The ‘Uncanny.’” In The Collected Articles of Sigmund Freud, Volume 4, 368–407. New York: Basic Books.


Gegner, M. and B. Ziino. 2012. The Heritage of War. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.


Gell, A. 1998. Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory. Oxford: Clarendon.


Gibson, J. 1986 [1979]. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.


Glucklich, A. 1997. The End of Magic. New York: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108798.001.0001


Godwin, J. 2002. The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes.


González-Ruibal, A. 2008. “Time to Destroy: An Archaeology of Supermodernity.” Current Anthropology 49(2): 247–279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/526099


Gordon, A. 1997. Ghostly Matters: Haunting and the Sociological Imagination. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.


Gosden, C. 2005. “What Do Objects Want?” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 12(3): 193–211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10816-005-6928-x


Graves-Brown, P. 2000. Matter, Materiality and Modern Culture. London: Routledge.


Greenwood, S. 2009. The Anthropology of Magic. Oxford: Berg.


Harjumaa, P. 2008. Aaveriekkoja: Lappilaisia Mystisiä Tarinoita ja Kummituksia (4th edition). Rovaniemi: Lapland University Press.


Harrison, R. 2013. Heritage: Critical Approaches. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.021


Hauser, K. 2004. “A Garment in the Dock; Or, How the FBI Illuminated the Prehistory of a Pair of Denim Jeans.” Journal of Material Culture 9(3): 293–313. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359183504046895


Heinäaho, H. and P. Rautiainen. 2011. “Romua vai Sotahistoriallisia Aarteita?” Museo 2/2011: 32–34.


Henry, J. 2008. “The Fragmentation of Renaissance Occultism and the Decline of Magic.” History of Science 46(1): 1–48.


Herva, V.-P. 2010a. “Maps and Magic in Renaissance Europe.” Journal of Material Culture 15(3): 323–343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359183510373979


____. 2010b. “Buildings as Persons: Relationality and the Life of Buildings in a Northern Periphery of Early Modern Sweden.” Antiquity 84: 440–452.


____. 2012. “Spirituality and the Material World in Post-Medieval Europe.” In Archaeology of Spiritualities, edited by K. Rountree, C. Morris and A. Peatfield, 71–85. New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3354-5_4


____. and J. M. Nordin. 2013. “Classicism and Knowing the World in Early Modern Sweden.” In Relational Archaeologies: People, Animals, Things, edited by C. Watts, 209–227. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.


____., K. Nordqvist, A. Herva and J. Ikäheimo. 2010. “Daughters of Magic: Esoteric Traditions, Relational Ontology and the Archaeology of the Post-Medieval Past.” World Archaeology 42(4): 609–621. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2010.517679


Holloway, J. 2010. “Legend-Tripping in Spooky Spaces: Ghost Tourism and Infrastructures of Enchantment.” Environment and Planning D 28: 618–637. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/d9909


Houlbrook, C. 2013. “Ritual, Recycling and Recontextualization: Putting the Concealed Shoe into Context.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 23(1): 99–112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959774313000073


Inglis, D. and M. Holmes. 2003. “Highland and other Haunts: Ghosts in Scottish Tourism.” Annals of Tourism Research 30(1): 50–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(02)00031-2


Ingold, T. 2000. The Perception of the Environment: Essays in Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill. London: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203466025


____. 2004. “Culture on the Ground: The World Perceived through the Feet.” Journal of Material Culture 9(3): 315–340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359183504046896


____. 2011. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London: Routledge.


Jokisipilä, M. 2005. “Napapiirin Aseveljet.” In Aseveljet: Saksalais-Suomalainen Aseveljeys 19421944, edited by R. Alftan, 9–51. Helsinki: WSOY.


Junila, M. 2000. Kotirintaman Aseveljeyttä. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society.


Kaleva. 2013. “Räjähtänyt Ammus oli Sirpalekranaatti
—Turmassa Ainekset Isompaan Räjähdykseen.” 14 September. Available online:
http://www.kaleva.fi/uutiset/pohjois-suomi/rajahtanyt-ammus-oli-sirpalekranaatti-turmassa-ainekset-isompaan-rajahdykseen/641842/


Kallioniemi, J. 1990. Suursodan Loppunäytös Pohjoisessa: Lapin Sota 19441945. Raisio: Teospiste.


Karjalainen, T. 2014. “Sotamuistoja Lapin Metsistä.” Kadonneen kulttuuriperinnön metsästäjät 8 January. Available online: http://kulttuuriperintoinventointi.blogspot.fi/2014/01/sotamuistoja-lapin-metsista_8.html


Knappett. C. and L. Malafouris, eds. 2008. Material Agency: Towards a Non- Anthropocentric Approach. New York: Springer.


Korpi, K. 2010. Rintama Ilman Juoksuhautoja: Saksalaisten Keskeiset Rakentamiset, Työmaat ja Työvoima Pohjois-Suomessa 19411942. Rovaniemi: Pohjois-Suomen historiallinen yhdistys.


Lahelma, A. 2008. A Touch of Red: Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings. Helsinki: The Finnish Antiquarian Society.


Latour, B. 2005. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Lennon, J. and M. Foley. 2000. Dark Tourism: The Attraction of Death and Disaster. Andover, UK: Cengage Learning.


Leppänen, M. 2009. “Käsivarren Yliperä – Kylmä, Kukkia ja Sotaromua.” Esoteerinen Maantiede ja Periferiaterapia 18 August. Available online: http://esoteerinenmaantiede.blogspot.fi/2009/08/kasivarren-ylipera-kylmaa-kukkia-ja.html


Light, D. 2009. “Performing Transylvania: Tourism, Fantasy and Play in a Liminal Place.” Tourist Studies 9(3): 240–258. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468797610382707


Logan, W. and K. Reeves, eds. 2009. Places of Pain and Shame: Dealing with “Difficult Heritage”. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.


Macdonald, S. 2006a. “Undesirable Heritage: Fascist Material Culture and Historical Consciousness in Nuremberg.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 12(1): 9–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527250500384464


____. 2006b. “Words in Stone? Agency and Identity in a Nazi Landscape.” Journal of Material Culture 11(1/2): 105–126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359183506063015


Mann, C. and C. Jörgensen. 2002. Hitler’s Arctic War: The German Campaigns in Norway, Finland, and The USSR 19401945. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing.


Menninkäinen. 2006. [Untitled online forum comment] anna&ellit 7 February. Available online: http://keskustelu.plaza.fi/ellit/kristallipallo/yliluonnolliset-ilmiot/1456901/lappi-yliluonnollisuus/sivu2/


Miller, D. 1987. Material Culture and Mass Consumption. Oxford: Blackwell.


Myllyniemi, S. 2013. Korpimuseo Wildwood Tales: On the Trail of the Magical Traditions of Upper Kainuu. Hyrynsalmi: The Municipality of Hyrynsalmi. Available online: http://www.tarinakartasto.fi/fi


Naum, M. and J. M. Nordin, eds. 2013. Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity: Small Time Agents in a Global Arena. New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6202-6


Olaus Magnus. 1998 [1555]. Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus. Edited by P. Foote. London: Hakluyt Society.


Pétursdóttir, Þ. 2013. “Concrete Matters: Ruins of Modernity and the Things called Heritage.” Journal of Social Archaeology 13(1): 31–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1469605312456342


Pidä Lappi siistinä. 2011. “Ympäristöprojektit.” Available online: http://www.pidalappisiistina.fi/index.php?id=48


Richter, G., ed. 2002. Benjamin’s Ghosts: Interventions in Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.


Robb, J. 2010. “Beyond Agency.” World Archaeology 42(4): 493–520. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2010.520856


Roberts, E. 2013. “Geography and the Visual Image: A Hauntological Approach.” Progress in Human Geography 37(3): 386–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132512460902


RÖH. 2006. [Untitled online forum comment] Junkers 12 January. Available online: http://www.vaellusnet.com/discus/messages/18/1858.html?1089280085


Schofield, J., W. G. Johnson and C. M. Beck, eds. 2002. Matériel Culture: The Archaeology of Twentieth Century Conflict. London: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203165744


Schwartz, R. 1985. “The Power of Pictures.” The Journal of Philosophy 82(12): 711–720. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2026405


Seitsonen, O. and V.-P. Herva. 2011. “Forgotten in the Wilderness: WWII PoW Camps in Finnish Lapland.” In Archaeologies of Internment, edited by A. Myers and G. Moshenska, 171–190. New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9666-4_10


____. forthcoming. “‘War Junk’ and Cultural Heritage: Viewpoints on the Second World War German Material Culture in Finnish Lapland.” In Proceedings of the 45th Annual Chacmool Conference: War and Peace: Conflict and Resolution in Archaeology. Alberta: Chacmool Archaeology Association, University of Calgary.


Sexton, J. 2012. “Weird Britain in Exile: Ghost Box, Hauntology, and Alternative Heritage.” Popular Music and Society 35(4): 561–584. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2011.608905


Strathern, M. 1988. The Gender of the Gift: Problems with Women and Problems with Society in Melanesia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.


Tyy. 2012. “Puron puhetta.” Skepsis 19 January. Available online: http://keskustelu.skepsis.fi/Message/Message/356218


van Driel-Murray, C. 1999. “And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time… Feet and Shoes as a Material Projection of the Self.” In Trac 98: Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference Leicester 1998, edited by P. Baker, C. Forcey, S. Jundi and R. Witcher, 131–140. Oxford: Oxbow Books.


Westerlund, L. 2008. Saksan Vankileirit Suomessa ja Raja-Alueilla 19411944. Helsinki: Tammi.


Witmore, C. 2006. “Vision, Media, Noise and the Percolation of Time: Symmetrical Approaches to the Mediation of the Material World.” Journal of Material Culture 11(3): 267–292. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359183506068806


Yle Lappi. 2010. “Lapin Luonnosta Löytyy Vieläkin Sotaromua.” 19 July. Available online: http://yle.fi/uutiset/lapin_luonnosta_loytyy_vielakin_sotaromua/5599337


Ylimaunu, T., P. Mullins, J. Symonds, T. Kallio-Seppä, H. Heikkilä, M. Kuorilehto and S. Tolonen. 2013. “Memory of Barracks: World War II German ‘Little Berlins’ and Post-War Urbanization in Northern Finnish Towns.” Scandinavian Journal of History 38(4): 525–548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03468755.2013.822457