Out of the Suitcase and Into the Bag: Rethinking Metaphors of Refugeehood in Yugoslav War Memoirs

Author

Marija NikolićFollow

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

M.A. Essay

First Advisor

Lada Kolomiyets

Second Advisor

Yuliya Komska

Abstract

The suitcase has become a staple trope in a variety of migration narratives since the early twentieth century. Travel, immigration, and forced displacement have all been packed into this same metaphor, which risks collapsing these distinct experiences. Moreover, while some refugees do bring suitcases with them, others pack their belongings in a variety of containers, and some are unable to bring along any possessions whatsoever. Looking beyond the suitcase, the goal of this thesis is to examine alternative representations of luggage in refugees’ stories. In doing so, I focus on two recent diaspora memoirs recounting experiences of the breakup of Yugoslavia, Sofija Stefanović’s Miss Ex Yugoslavia (2018) and Snežana Žabić’s Broken Records (2016). The former is a story of immigration and the latter of refugeehood, both memoirs concentrate on material objects, as well as the containers in which those objects are transported. Instead of defaulting to the suitcase metaphor, Stefanović and Žabić depict refugees as carrying a different kind of bag, one that is truly representative of the experience of refugeehood. Throughout this thesis, I will explore the differences between the suitcase and the “refugee bag,” examining the history of the two containers, their materiality, and the belongings carried within them.

Recommended Citation

Nikolić, Marija, "Out of the Suitcase and Into the Bag: Rethinking Metaphors of Refugeehood in Yugoslav War Memoirs" (2025). Comparative Literature M.A. Essays. 199.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/complit_essays/199