Haunting Ruins

Valentina Gamberi is a MSCA-CZ fellow at Palacký University Olomouc (UPOL). Previously, she held positions as an adjunct lecturer (University of Bologna, 2022–2023) and a research fellow (Research Centre for Material Culture in Leiden, 2021–2022 and the Institute of Ethnology of Academia Sinica, 2019–2020). Her most recent publication in English is Experiencing Materiality: Museum Perspectives (Berghahn, 2021).

• List of FiguresIntroduction: For an Ethnographic Microhistory through RuinsChiara Calzana and Valentina GamberiPart I: Ethnographic Lenses for RuinationChapter 1. A Landscape of Failures: The Historical Ecology of Ruins in the Po River DeltaFrancesco Danesi Della SalaChapter 2. From Desire to Avoidance: Contrasting Interactions with the Rubble of Familiar Spaces Affected by an Earthquake and a Planned Flood (China)Katiana Le MentecPart II: HauntingsChapter 3. A Scattered Self: Composing Subjectivities through Ruined Houses (Taiwan)Valentina GamberiChapter 4. Contested Memoryscapes: Post-Disaster Ruins and Memorial Practices in the Vajont Valley (Italy)Chiara CalzanaChapter 5. Ruins of Remains: Unpacking Narratives about a Cemetery of ‘Political Victims’Fang-I ChuPart III: Curating RuinsChapter 6. Ruins in the Forest: Conserving, Abandoning and Feeling Heritage in the Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia)Giacomo NericiChapter 7. Soba Past versus Soba Present: Ethnography of Soba Archeological Site (Sudan)Marciej KurczAfterword: The Only Real Nation Is RuinationFrancisco MartinezIndex

“From a conceptual, argumentative and methodological point of view, the book is effective and rigorous. It is a well-developed volume which will be of interest to a wide audience.” • Giacomo Pozzi, IULM University