A Journey in Reverse

In 2012, Aris Fioretos - Swedish-born author of Austro-Greek origin - published Halva solen (Half the sun), an (auto)biographically-rooted narration of a son about the life, family, and migration (hi)story of his father, a Greek physician who had immigrated to Sweden in his youth. Starting with the father's end of life and ending with his life's beginning, the son tries to understand a person who, due to his different cultural background as well as his suffering from Parkinson's disease and dementia, has remained a mystery to him until his very end. Against this backdrop, the paper at hand is interested in the ways and techniques with which the narrated stories of geriatric disease and migration-bound interculturalism lead to a juxtaposition of closeness and (mythical) foreignness. While the main part of this paper is based on a close reading of Fioretos' Halva solen, I will also cast a concluding look at the (auto)biographical dimensions of the book and the ethical implications of reading, interpreting, and biographically framing intercultural kinship.