Paragrana 28 (2019) 2 De Gruyter Verlag Özlem Savaş Migrant Journeys of Loss, Uncertainty, and Hope Is uncertainty, often brought about by loss, collapse, interruption, or disturbance in life, an entirely negative state that must be resolved as soon and as fully as possible by resettle- ment? Or, can we view uncertainty and loss as affective states that might open up new pos- sibilities for friendships, solidarities, collectivities, and hope? As a response to Carla J. Maier’s ‘The Table and the Dancer’ this essay attends to affective and emotional registers of migration. It attempts to rethink the senses of loss, uprootedness, and uncertainty as pos- sible sources for affinities and hope, with a particular focus on the new migration from Turkey. What does the tale of The Bremen Town Musicians tell us today? Carla J. Maier’s ethnographic artefact The table and the dancer reflects on the piece Still Out There by kainkollektiv at Junges Theater Bremen, which re-narrates the fairy tale by re- volving around this question. The four animals, a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a roost- er who are no longer wanted in their homes find each other and embark on a jour- ney to Bremen to become town musicians. On their way, in the forest, they capture a hut from robbers to spend the night. As they like it very much, they never leave their hut in the forest. One can find many intersections between the journey of the Bremen town musicians and contemporary experiences of migration, from losing a home to finding a refuge, from acting in solidarity to making new homes. For Maier, the significance of this fairy tale of the artist collective that includes many actors with refugee and migrant backgrounds lies in “not only that this is a refugee story, but also that the four never really arrived in Bremen, but are still out there – somewhere in the forest” (in this issue: Maier, p. 75). Since it is a fairy tale, the story concludes, and we want to believe that the ani- mals have lived happily ever after in their new home in the forest. We do not know if they lost their new home, too, if they had to leave once again. Or, perhaps, they began a new journey since they were bored, as Richard Scarry imagines in his ad- aptation of the tale. On the dancer’s performance of a princess in Still Out There, Maier writes, “the princess has forgotten who she is, to which tale she belongs, where she comes from – and thus becomes part of the journey into uncertainty to which the animals are also subjected” (ibid., p. 77). Like anyone who migrates, the animals must have known deep in their hearts that they had embarked on a journey into uncertainty, most likely one charged with fear and anxiety. Yet, above all, they Brought to you by | Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Authenticated Download Date | 12/13/19 1:40 PM