Bucharest Barks: Street Dogs, Urban Lifestyle Aspirations, and the Non-Civilized City
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Bucharest Barks: Street Dogs, Urban Lifestyle Aspirations, and the Non-Civilized City by Lavrentia Karamaniola A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in the University of Michigan 2017 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Krisztina E. Fehérváry, Co-Chair Professor Alaina M. Lemon, Co-Chair Professor Liviu Chelcea, University of Bucharest Associate Professor Matthew S. Hull Professor Robin M. Queen “The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.” “I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Extracts from “Sisyphus Myth” (1942) by Albert Camus (1913–1960) Sisyphus by Titian (1490–1567) 1548–1549. Oil on canvas, 237 x 216 cm Prado Museum, Madrid Lavrentia Karamaniola [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2194-3847 © Lavrentia Karamaniola 2017 Dedication To my family, Charalambos, Athena, Yannis, and Dimitris for always being close, for always nourishing their birbilo, barbatsalos, kounioko and zoumboko To Stefanos, for always smoothing the road for me to push the rock uphill ii Acknowledgments This project could not have been possible without the generous and continuous support of a number of individuals and institutions. At the University of Michigan, Alaina Lemon, Krisztina Fehérváry and Matthew Hull have tirelessly provided me with feedback since I entered the graduate program in 2009. Their encouragement was crucial, especially at times when finding an “angle” through which to study urban life and post-socialist significations in Bucharest seemed impossible. They steered me in new directions during long office hours in which they discussed my ideas with patience, devotion, enthusiasm, and humor. Their own work provided a compass to help me find my own route. I have drawn inspiration from their sharp thinking and writing. Along the way, I met other individuals who became crucial to the completion of this project. Liviu Chelcea “unlocked” much of the information I needed while in the field. He suggested sites to visit, people to meet, and ways to gain access to archival and other material. Robin Queen also shared valuable insights once I came back from the field. She suggested readings and other resources, as she excitedly discussed animal and human communication with me and asked about the lives of dogs in Bucharest. I owe gratitude to all of these people. At the University of Michigan I am also thankful to those who engaged wholeheartedly with this and other projects. Meghanne Barker, Deborah Jones, and Smadar Brack exchanged feedback with me over the years. We shared long e-mails and Skype conversations while I was in the field. Meghanne patiently edited countless proposals, chapters, and cover letters, while Deborah visited Bucharest to celebrate my thirtieth birthday with me, and Smadar hosted me in Rome, when taking a break from research seemed necessary. Their emotional support helped me iii to keep re-applying and re-writing, never giving up. After I came back from the field, Luciana Aenășoaie became a close friend who shared with me stories and ideas about street dogs and life in Romania. Most of all, she shared a big piece of her Romanian and American life in Michigan and kept me feeling connected to the field. At the early stages of writing, both the weekly seminar at the Institute for the Humanities and Ethnolab at the Department of Anthropology provided settings for me to explore the various connections I was thinking about. I am thankful to all of the participants who provided comments, especially Damani Partridge, Stuart Kirsch, Meghanne Barker, Deborah Jones, Jeffrey Albanese, Michael Prentice, Bruno Renero, Jin Li, Farina Mir, Christiane Gruber, Marjorie Rubright, Andreas Gailus, Andrea Brock, Phoebe Gloeckner, Megan Sweeney, and Shana Melnsyn. I am also indebted to friends who discussed ethnographic material with me at conferences, especially Elana Resnick and Jessica Robbins- Ruszkowski. In Romania, I am thankful to a number of individuals who made sure that I conducted my research in the best way possible, improved my linguistic skills, and adjusted to the Bucharest way of living. Kalliopi Dimou and Sorin Istudor became close friends, with whom I met and talked about Bucharest and street dogs almost everyday. They treated me like family and took me with them on trips and to parties and exhibitions. They connected me with their friends and family, and they searched for suggestions that would advance my research; they recommended people to interview, books to read, and places to visit. Similarly, Alexandru Solomon helped me to make connections, and provided books and documentary and archival films. The emotional support I received from these friends kept me going at times when my efforts to make connections and secure interviews were failing. Their support made Bucharest much more accessible. Living life along them is something I miss every day. iv I am also thankful to Iana Druța, Oana Druța, and Toto Niculescu. Their hospitality still amazes me. They shared their apartment with me, but also their lives, their relations with animals, and their understanding of socialist history. Iana shared recipes, provided translations, and helped me to navigate bureaucracy as I tried gaining access to public dog shelters. Most importantly, she refused to use any English she knew when she visited me, which helped me tremendously to improve my Romanian. She also insisted that I celebrate Easter in the country with them, the Romanian way, creating one of my sweetest memories—traveling to the western side of Danube, with a cat and a dog in Toto’s Dacia car. This project would not have been possible without the support of Vier Pfoten-Romania, who gave me statistical and other information and suggested research venues in my first days in Bucharest. I especially thank Livia Cimpoeru, Victor Chitic, Emanuela Rafailescu, Mihaela Rafailescu, and George Nedelcu, who talked to me about street dogs and showed me their work with therapy dogs. I also owe gratitude to Liviu Gaiță for generously allowing me to sit in the waiting room of Ortovet, making contact with human clients and non-human patients. He and Iustin Gîrea taught me many things about dogs and cats, allowed me to observe sterilizations and surgeries, and eased the procedure of traveling with my own dog, Beju, to Greece. Other individuals who provided help and support during my time in Bucharest were Oana Suciu, Ana Borca, Dana Berdilă, Adrian Deoancă, Ágota Szentannai, Dorothee Hasnaș, Michael Bird, Dominic Kreuzer, Gabriela Olariu, Ioana Petre, Bogdan Toader, Tudor Stoica, Ioana Dragoman, Oana Mateescu, Emanuela Grama, and Bogdan Iancu. Early stages of the research benefited greatly from feedback I received from graduate and undergraduate students at anthropology seminars at the University of Bucharest and at SNSPA, the National School of Political and Administrative Studies in Romania. Finally, I am also grateful for all the work and help of v Valentin Fușcan and Mirel Berechet, who helped me navigate the archives and journals at the National Municipal Archives of Bucharest (Arhivele Naționale ale Municipiului București) and the Library of the Romanian Academy (Bibliotecă Academiei Române), respectively. I also wish to thank the National Science Foundation, the Romanian Cultural Institute, and, at the University of Michigan, the Department of Anthropology, the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies, the Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies, the Center for European Studies, and the Institute for the Humanities for their financial support. This dissertation is based upon research supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. 1258616. The tireless work of Laurie Marx, Debbie Fitch, Sarah Hallum, Doretha Coval, Julie Burnett, and Cate McCraw was crucial in helping me navigate bureaucratic routes. Finally, I wish to thank friends and family in Greece whose support has been constant. Penelope Papailias became a role model and friend who provided feedback at different stages. Gerald and Mary Gutenschwager encouraged me to undertake graduate studies, while Jerry taught me English and helped me edit proposals and other pieces of writing. It was he who insisted that I confront life as Sisyphus did: with both persistence and patience. Erica Gutenschwager similarly always put things in perspective and reminded me to keep having fun. When visiting Greece, my nephews, Iwnas and Harris Karamaniolas, were always eager to make me part of their playing, eating, and sleeping routines—a refreshing break from academic thoughts and travels. I am also grateful to my friend Giota Papaioannou, who hosted me countless times in Athens and drove me to the airport before dawn. Like my Bucharest friends, Giota shared her life with me and provided me with balance as I traveled between Michigan, Bucharest, and Volos. vi My utmost gratitude, however, goes to my family and to Stefanos. My parents, Charalampos and Athena, and my brothers, Yannis and Dimitris, were always with me even when miles away. I am grateful for their gracious and unconditional love and support. Stefanos Delikouras has stood by me since the first day I even thought of undertaking graduate studies. He helped me navigate the application process and made Ann Arbor feel like home.