Den judiska sängkammarmöbeln

Berättande, materialitet och identitet

Abstract

The article explores the meaning of a story about bedroom furniture, told by a Jewish woman in her eighties. The story serves as an illustrative example and starting point for an investigation of how material objects in narratives are used symbolically and imaginatively, as well as concretely. The story about the bedroom furniture highlights many aspects of the interrelated processes of narrating and materialization. It also illustrates the complexity of the process of materialization in itself. The furniture in the story function as a timeless containers for Jewish memories, but also as catalysers for the stories of escape and travels that characterize Jewish life in the Diaspora.