1 2 3 4 5 *MRG: %tra:
también te quería preguntar un poco la- la- los orígenes no-? ya sé que llevas poco aquí pero bueno # un poco preguntarte cómo: llegaste a comprender un poco mejor el movimiento Emaús-? # dices que primero conociste la comunida:d y después conociste toda la historia que había detrás # cómo lo conociste-? cómo llegaste a saberlo?
I also wanted to ask you about the- the- the origins right-? I know that you've been here for a short time but well # just to ask you ho:w you got to understand the Emmaus movement a bit better-? # you told me that first you entered the community: and then you got to learn the whole history behind it # how did you learn about it-? how did you get to know it?
6
7 *EST: %tra: %act:
bueno: pues se podría comparar con las leyendas estas de: # es que me estuve leyendo un libro de los touaregs.
we:ll so it could be compared to these legends of # it's that I was reading a book on the Touaregs.
laughs.
8 *EST:
%tra: que no tenían libros pero se pasaban las cosas oralmente. who did not have books but passed things on orally.
9 *MRG:
%tra: sí: yea:h
10 *EST:
%tra: pues pues es algo así. so so something like that.
11 *MRG: hmm?
12
13 *EST:
%tra:
%act:
como: cosas que te va contando Rita: # cosas que te cuenta Alberto: # cosas que te cuenta Ramo:n # así # no hay un libro que te diga: el movimiento Emaús es.
like: things that Rita: keeps telling you # things that Alberto: tells you # things that Ramo:n tells you # like this # there isn't a book which tells you the Emmaus movement is.
we both laugh at her categorical tone.
14 *EST:
%tra: sí lo hay. yes there is.
15 *MRG:
%tra: sí lo hay? is there?
16 *EST:
%tra: sí # pero no:: +… yes # but no::t +…
17 *MRG:
%tra: pero no es lo que usas no-? para aprenderlo? but it's not what you use isn't it-? to learn about it?
%tra: no # not really.
19 *MRG:
%tra: aunque exista. even if it exists.
20 *EST:
%tra: =sí # bueno # ni siquiera me lo he leído o sea # he visto la película eso sí. =yes # well # I haven't even read it so # I've watched the film that I have.
[...]
21
22 *EST: %tra:
son cosas que tienes que saber # no: # está bien no perder e:l el origen no-? # saberlo # eso saberlo # yo no me levanto y lo pienso no sé.
these are things that you must know # no:t # it is good not to lose the: the origin isn't it-? # knowing about it # that is knowing # I don't get up and I think about it dunno.
23 *MRG:
%tra: no claro, # ya! no of course # gotcha!
24 *EST: %tra: %act:
supongo que es otra cosa de la edad # ves? I suppose it's got to do with age again # you see? she laughs. 25 26 27 *EST: %tra:
porque porque la gente mayor sí que le da más importancia el Ramon por ejemplo u:hh # el movimiento Emaús es la hostia # y la Rita también # pero bueno es que la Rita ya es un punto aparte.
because because elderly people do give more importance to it like Ramon for example uuu:h # the Emmaus movement is amazing # and Rita as well # but well it's that Rita is just something else.
28 *MRG:
%tra: =sí claro. =yeah sure.
29 *EST:
%tra: porque la que montó toda la historia. because she put the whole thing together.
30 *MRG:
%tra: por eso # si para ella ni fuera importante ya +... that's why # if it wasn't important to her then +...
31 *EST:
%tra: claro! sure!
32 *MRG:
%tra: apaga y vámonos claro. let's call it a day sure.
33 *EST:
%tra: pero: a mí pues a nivel personal es esto # sí lo conoces pero como leyendas no? bu:t to me so at a personal level this is it # yes you know about it but as legends right?
34 *MRG:
%tra: sí: me ha gustado esa comparativa con las leyendas orales. ye:ah I have liked the comparison with oral legends.
35 *EST:
%tra: sí. yes.
36
37 *MRG: %tra:
y que realmente te las cuentan las personas que:: se levantan pensando oh el movimiento Emaús no?
and who actually tells you are the people who:: get up thinking oh the Emmaus movement aren’t' they?
Emmaus as a transnational imagined community
38 *EST:
%tra: sí: yea:h.
39 *MRG:
%tra: son éstas las personas que te transmiten esto no? these are the people who transmit this aren't they?
40 *EST:
%tra: sí # son las que lo viven no? yes # they are the ones who live it aren’t they?
41 *MRG: aham. 42 43 44 *EST: %tra:
los que lo mantienen vivo en realidad porque # si no te lo contaran llegaría un momento que aquí la gente viniera a levantarse para ir al camión # y: trabajar para ganar dinero y ya está.
they are the ones who keep it alive in fact because # if they didn't tell you it would get to a point when people came here to get up in the morning to go on the truck # a:nd to work to make money and that's it.
45 *MRG: aham.
46 *EST:
%tra: acabaría siendo una empresa más. it would end up as another company.
Storytelling has an affective, pedagogic and socio-political value in Emmaus. Esther’s “legends” are oral stories that evoke uncertain, distant past events which tally with the idea of “parables” discussed above. In Barcelona, storytelling was used to socialise new generations of members such as Esther or Massin into the 62-year old transnational social movement. As a case in point, Massin was accepted as a companion in early 2009 after having shown interest in the social movement while he was a rag-picking volunteer and resident in the Emmaus social housing for migrant men. During a weekend trip to Lleida, Massin asked Rita about the transnational movement and told her that he would be interested in exporting Emmaus to South East Morocco. Like Esther, he recognises some companions’ “historical legitimacy” - adding Àngels to Esther’s list above – based on their experiences and knowledge about how Emmaus is run as well as how Catalan society works (interview, 15-03- 2012, see Excerpt 65 in Chapter 7).
Assemblies are collective rituals that (re)produce the Emmaus local community and transnational imaginary. They construct and (re)negotiate the embodied dispositions and identities as drapaires by means of social interaction (Melucci, 1995, p.44). The diverse and even contradictory appropriations by companions, like Tom’s definition of “those less fortunate” in London, are resolved by the legitimate members in each community of practice. The founding story spacetime, moral and personhood is a discursive resource to manage diversity and
disagreement in communities: Is this “authentic Emmaus”? What would a legitimate
responsable such as Rita or even the Abbé Pierre do in this present situation? As we
shall see in Chapter 7, socialisation in Emmaus involves learning how to align with these chronotopic person types in their everyday actions, opinions and narratives. Members will present different degrees of alignment with this founding story, which imply different degrees of social participation and hence, social inclusion or exclusion in the local community and the broader movement.
Together with oral stories, both communities in my study draw on visual semiotic representations of Abbé Pierre in their shared living and workspaces to socialise newcomers. These photos, paintings and Emmaus International posters index the founding narrative (“the origins”) and connect the locality to the transnational imagined community (see Figure 1 and Opening Vignette in Chapter 2). Both communities have similar semiotic signs, but do they play the same role?
In London, new members and visitors react to these visual semiotic artifacts and ask about the represented narrative. In spite of the little discursive weight accorded to the founder, many London interviewees made explicit references to these semiotic representations when asked about the transnational movement and shared dimensions with other Emmaus groups. In fact, I conducted my interviews in the common areas of the community where there were pictures of the Abbé Pierre on the wall. For instance, Danny explained that the Abbé Pierre had a weight for those who knew about him, but not all companions had been socialised in/through the founding story. During our interview, he physically turned to the Abbé Pierre picture in the entrance (see Opening Vignette in Chapter 2) in the excerpt below.
Excerpt 25. Abbé Pierre as the “geezer on the wall”. Interview with Danny, London