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AIMÉE	JOYCE,	2024,	Spectral	Borders:	History,	neighbourliness	and	discord	on	the	Polish-
Belarusian	frontier.	Canon	Pyon:	Sean	Kingston	Publishing,	207	pp,	ISBN	9781912385522	
	
Keywords:	neighbourliness,	haunting,	borderland,	Poland,	Belarus,	history	
	

How	to	live	comfortably	in	a	place	haunted	by	traumatic	events? How	are	lives	lived,	day-
to-day,	in	a	place	that	entails	more	than	what	meets	the	eye,	where	you	need	to	know	how	
to	speak,	where	to	go	and	what	to	say	in	order	to	be	a	good	neighbour,	but	you	feel	and	
know	things	that	make	relations	difficult	and	where	at	the	same	time	organisational	forces	
of	 the	 state	 and	 the	 ghosts	 of	 the	 past	 operate?	 The	 place,	 that	 on	 the	 one	 hand	 is	 a	
changing	tourist	landscape	clearly	following	goals	of	EU-sponsored	development,	which	
exploits	difference	by	making	it	“attractive,”	and	on	the	other	hand	an	incredibly	complex,	
multi-layered	space	inhabited	by	many	entities	of	which	currently	breathing	people	are	
just	one	among	many?	How	to	deal	with	those	very	divergent	ways	of	being	in	one	space?		

I	reached	for	Aimee	Joyce’s	book	encouraged	by	the	Preface,	in	which	Joyce	positions	her	
work	in	the	context	of	the	situation	on	the	Polish-Belarusian	border	since	2021	and	the	
Russian	aggression	against	Ukraine,	which	for	many	observers	are	interconnected	events.	
And	although	at	 the	end	of	 the	day,	neither	the	contemporary	state	border,	movement	
across	it,	nor	the	war	have	much	presence	in	the	arguments	pursued	by	Joyce,	a	reader	
has	a	feeling	that	the	ethnography	of	the	small	town	(in	the	book	called	Bielo)	does	help	
her	 to	 understand	 the	 situation	 on	 the	 border	 and	 in	 the	 broadly	 understood	 region	
better.		

The	book	is	divided	into	an	Introduction,	Conclusion	and	six	chapters.	Each	chapter	and	
the	 Introduction	 start	 from	 an	 “ethnographic	 vignette,”	 that	 is,	 a	 description	 of	 an	
encounter,	conversation	or	a	place,	which	brings	the	reader	directly	into	the	topic	–	a	very	
efficient	way	of	capturing	and	focusing	attention.	

The	Introduction	presents	the	basic	notions	of	the	book	and	focuses	on	neighbourliness	
and	spectres.		There	is	the	third	notion	as	well,	which	Joyce	presents	as	central	to	her	book	
and	which	is	also	present	in	the	title:	a	border.	Still	I	feel	that	this	notion	is	at	the	end	of	
the	day	of	a	limited	use;	much	more	adequate	would	be	the	one	of	borderland,	for	reasons	
to	 which	 I	 refer	 below.	 Border	 as	 a	 notion	 is	 applied	 in	 a	 broad	 sense,	 and	 any	
differentiation	becomes	an	instance	of	(b)ordering.	This	is	undoubtedly	the	case,	but	of	
little	analytical	value.	Neighbourliness	and	spectre	are	on	the	other	hand	are	crucial	and	
thoroughly	addressed	in	the	Introduction	and	throughout	the	book.	Joyce	follows	this	type	
of	 hauntological	 studies,	 where	 ghost	 are	 interconnected	 with	 concrete	 impacts	 of	
organisational	 forces.	 Ghosts	 do	 not	 have	 to	 be	 seen	 as	 present	 in	 direct	 fashion,	 as	
separate	and	somewhat	perceivable	entities;	instead	those	are	things,	moments,	details	



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that	 draw	 attention	 to	 unspeakable	 traumatic	 pasts	 and	 also	 incomplete,	 no-longer-
possible	 or	 unlikely	 futures	 of	 the	 region.	 They	 are	 potentials:	 lost	 or	 still	 present,	
enabling	certain	futures	but	also	restraining	what	is	possible.		

Chapter	1	is	chiefly	methodological	and	its	content	is	revealed	in	a	subtitle:	Working	with	
Fragments,	Trances	and	Absences.	Joyce	reflects	on	ethics	and	strategies	of	dealing	with	
temptations	which	are	present	in	many	ethnographic	works	–	not	on	a	declarative	level	
but	really	in	ethnographic	practice:	how	to	deal	with	empty	spots,	when	to	restrain	one’s	
own	need	to	search	what	was	“really	there,”	how	to	address	what	 is	unspoken	or	only	
what	is	hinted	at?	How	not	to	give	up	to	a	temptation	to	“give	a	full	picture,”	without	gaps,	
“thoroughly	 research	 and	 documented”?	 Actually	 the	 book	 does	 follow	 the	
methodological	recommendations	the	development	of	which	Joyce	shows	in	this	chapter	
–	the	picture	of	Bielo	Joyce	paints	is	fragmented	and	uncertain,	without	recourse	to	the	
researcher’s	unshakeable	authority.	This	should	be	understood	as	a	great	compliment.	

Chapter	2	looks	at	the	region	as	a	tourist	development	area	and	shows	how	differently	the	
region	is	constructed	for	different	types	of	tourists	and,	moreover,	in	different	languages.	
Joyce	refers	to	practices	of	orientalization	and	exoticization,	of	exploiting	difference	for	
tourist	purposes	but	she	also	points	out	that	so-called	“dark	tourism,”	so	much	present	in	
Poland	in	general,	is	not	that	prominent	as	it	could	be	in	this	region,	which	can	be	better	
understood	in	light	of	description	and	analysis	of	spectre	of	Jewish	presence	analysed	in	
Chapter	5.	

Chapter	3	presents	some	of	the	history	of	this	region,	in	a	very	concise	form,	for	readers	
not	 acquainted	 with	 it.	 It	 is	 impressive	 how	 Joyce	 managed	 to	 contain	 a	 wealth	 of	
information	within	relatively	few	pages,	including	such	historical	events	as	bieżeństwo	-		
very	important	for	this	region,	but	relatively	little	known.	Chapter	4	concerns	religious	
difference	presented	as	a	kind	of	border	 in	combination	with	ethnic	 identification	and	
nation-focused	policies	of	 various	 states.	This	 chapter	 is	most	 importantly	 about	 state	
attempts	 at	 homogenisation,	 which	 were	 often	 conducted	 through	 exploitation	 of	
religious	difference.			

In	Chapter	5	the	hauntology	approach	is	most	straightforward.	The	main	focus	are	stories	
told	in	confidence	or	not	told	at	all;	places	that	are	treated	in	a	special	way	without	the	
reasons	 being	 explicitly	 addressed;	 and	 what	 Joyce	 calls	 asocial	 memories	 –	 those	
memories	where	disagreements,	conflicts	and	absences	have	infused	the	landscape.	It	is	
zooms	on	Jewish	ghosts	and	the	fact	the	although	today’s	children	learn	about	Holocaust,	
they	still	do	not	know	much	about	Jewish	neighbours	of	their	grandparents.	Although,	this	
knowledge	is	lacking	on	explicit	level;	on	another	one,	they	still	do	not	eat	apples	growing	
on	a	particular	field	–	where	Jewish	cemetery	used	to	be	located.		

Chapter	6	returns	to	the	religious	theme	already	addressed	in	Chapter	4	through	analysis	
of	 Bielo	 as	 a	 pilgrimage	 site.	 It	 brings	 many	 themes	 of	 previous	 chapters,	 especially	
neighbourliness	and	tourism	together,	as	interacting	modi	of	the	town’s	existence.	In	the	
Conclusion	 Joyce	 provides	 a	 good	 summary	 of	 the	 main	 arguments	 of	 the	 book	 and	
underlines	that	her	work	is	not		about	past	and	present,	and	not	only	about	how	ghosts	–	
from	the	past	–	influence	the	present.	It	is	book	about	future,	as	many	hauntological	works	
actually	are.	She	finished	with	a	quotation	from	Max	Fisher’s	work:	“When	the	present	has	



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given	 up	 on	 the	 future	 we	 must	 listen	 for	 the	 relics	 of	 the	 future	 in	 the	 unactivated	
potentials	of	the	past”	(Fisher	2013:	2013).		

This	book	helps	us	to	imagine	what	a	borderland	is	and	can	be	in	this	particular	regional	
context	 and	 how	 important	 this	 notion	 is	 for	 contemporary	 politics.	 It	 delivers	 an	
ethnographic	description	of	 the	phenomenon	of	 the	borderland	 in	present-day	Poland,	
and	shows	how	it	influences	people's	lives,	thoughts	and	actions,	both	as	an	idea,	but	also	
as	 an	 everyday	 practice	 and	 result	 of	 state	 and	 other	 political	 forces.	 This	 deeper	
understanding	 of	 this	 particular	 borderland	 is	 particularly	 important	 as	 in	 the	 Polish	
context	 this	 one	 seem	 to	 feed	 particularly	 potently	 an	 image	 of	 borderland	 as	 such.	
Admittedly,	 there	 is	a	 long	history	of	 interest	 in	the	eastern	borderland	in	Poland,	and	
Joyce	refers	 to	 this	 interest	 to	some	extent	 (although	she	quotes	and	discusses	almost	
exclusively	works	written	in	English,	also	by	Polish	scholars,	and	the	literature	in	Polish,	
Belarusian	or	Ukrainian	is	little	present	in	her	analysis),	but	Joyce’s	approach	does	bring	
a	 new	 dimensions	 especially	 through	 use	 of	 innovative	 frameworks	 of	 haunting,	
neighbourliness	and	borders.	The	idea	of	what	borderland	is	or	should	be	has	been	in	a	
Polish	context	shaped	by	discourses	and	state	organisational	practices	taking	place	where	
Joyce	conducted	her	research;	other	border	regions	in	Poland	received	much	less	research	
attention.	 Only	 in	 recent	 years,	 there	 has	 been	 a	 definite	 increase	 in	 interest	 in	 other	
borderlands	and	especially	other	hauntings	–	in	particularly	those	inhabiting	the	so-called	
"post-German	 lands."	 Because	 Joyce	 shows	 how	 this	 eastern	 borderland	 is	 made	 and	
maintained,	state-organised	and	practiced,	and	not	only	how	it	is	imagined,	I	believe	her	
work	 can	 help	 to	 generate	 more	 critical	 and	 innovative	 works	 on	 other	 haunted	
borderlands,	and	especially	on	how	ghosts	influence	imaginings	and	materialisations	of	
various	futures.		

Works	Cited:	

Fisher, M. (2013). The metaphysics of crackle: Afrofuturism and hauntology. Dancecult: 
Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, 42-55. 
	

Agnieszka	Halemba	(PhD	Cambridge	2003)	is	a	professor	at	the	Institute	of	Archaeology	
and	Ethnology,	Polish	Academy	of	Sciences	and	a	lecture	at	the	University	of	Potsdam	in	
Germany.	She	conducted	long-term	field	research	in	Siberia,	Transcarpathian	Ukraine	and	
eastern	 Germany	 in	 anthropology	 of	 religion	 as	 the	 core	 field	 but	 with	 interest	 and	
outputs	in	border	studies,	anthropology	beyond	the	human,	and	political	anthropology.			

	

	

© 2024 Agnieszka Halemba 

	


