The impoundment of the Merowe Dam in Northern Sudan forced thousands of farming Manasir to flee into the adjacent deserts. Despite the drastic transformations of their living conditions and an uncertain future, the inhabitants of the Nile Valley try to pursue their lives as farmers. While other studies about displacement mostly deal with migration and translocation, the author focuses on something else: the resistant endeavour of the farmers to preserve their homeland and to lead a meaningful life at the reservoir lake. From a phenomenological perspective Hänsch concentrates on the question if and how people can manage to handle the decay of their familiar living environment.

Autorentext
Valerie Hänsch ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Ethnologie, LMU München. Zuvor lehrte sie an der Universität Bayreuth und promovierte an der Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS). Sie ist Regisseurin des Dokumentarfilms Sifinja Die eiserne Braut, 2009.