ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book emphasises the spatial dimension and politics of haunting. It explores absent presences, and present absences, in spaces where the supposedly dead and buried persist with alarming, electrifying 'aliveness'. They are encountered in places and through bodies, routines and objects; in landscapes of upheaval; in fragments of memories; in grand gestures to the nation and in daily practices. The anthology is divided into two parts: 'Private Hauntings' focuses on the idiosyncrasies of the contributors' autobiographical ghostly encounters, while 'Spectres of the Social' focuses on hauntings of a collective nature. The book also explores the power of visual mediums to haunt and to materialise spectres in photography, film, television and art. It considers how space can be mobilised to materialise spectres in the pursuit of justice.
