Parr, H. , Stevenson, O. and Woolnough, P. (2016) Search/ing for missing people: families living with ambiguous absence. Emotion, Space and Society, 19, pp. 66-75. (doi: 10.1016/j.emospa.2015.09.004)
|
Text
109954.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 1MB |
Abstract
Families of missing people are often understood as inhabiting a particular space of ambiguity, captured in the phrase ‘living in limbo’ (Holmes, 2008). To explore this uncertain ground, we interviewed 25 family members to consider how human absence is acted upon and not just felt within this space ‘in between’ grief and loss (Wayland, 2007). In the paper, we represent families as active agents in spatial stories of ‘living in limbo’, and we provide insights into the diverse strategies of search/ing (technical, physical and emotional) in which they engage to locate either their missing member or news of them. Responses to absence are shown to be intimately bound up with unstable spatial knowledges of the missing person and emotional actions that are subject to change over time. We suggest that practices of search are not just locative actions, but act as transformative processes providing insights into how families inhabit emotional dynamism and transition in response to the on-going ‘missing situation’ and ambiguous loss (Boss, 1999, 2013).
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Parr, Professor Hester and Stevenson, Dr Olivia |
| Authors: | Parr, H., Stevenson, O., and Woolnough, P. |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences |
| Journal Name: | Emotion, Space and Society |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| ISSN: | 1755-4586 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1878-0040 |
| Published Online: | 01 January 2015 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2015 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in Emotion, Space and Society 19:66-75 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons License |
University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record
Funder and Project Information
Funder and Project Information