“Upon Entry” – Reflections on the Subject, Non-place and Uncertainty

Peer-reviewed article, Submitted 2.01.2026, Accepted 17.02.2026

Sławomir Sikora

slawomir.sikora@uw.edu.pl
University of Warsaw (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2147-8543

Abstract

Upon Entry is a film about a young couple emigrating from Spain to the US and crossing the border at Newark airport. Although they have visas, crossing the border turns out to be an ordeal (rite of passage) partly, but not only, because one the characters had not completed the process of obtaining permanent residence in Spain. For the author of the essay the film becomes a pretext for reflection on non-places (Marc Augé) and, above all, on the identity of migrants in conditions of uncertainty (precariousness). In order to illustrate this difficult situation, the author draws on the reflections of J.-C. Kaufmann (on identity) and refers to the type of intelligence known in ancient Greece as mêtis.



Keywords:

Upon Entry, migration, refugees, non-lieux, mêtis

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Published
2026-05-27

Cited by

Sikora, S. (2026) “‘Upon Entry’ – Reflections on the Subject, Non-place and Uncertainty”, Konteksty, 352(1), pp. 173–178. doi: 10.36744/k.4776.

Authors

Sławomir Sikora 
slawomir.sikora@uw.edu.pl
University of Warsaw Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2147-8543

Sławomir Sikora – Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw; his field of interest covers primarily visual and urban anthropology, and the anthropology of contemporary culture. Author of the books Fotografia. Między dokumentem a symbolem [Photography: Between a Document and a Symbol] (2004) and Film i paradoksy wizualności. Praktykowanie antropologii [Film and the Paradoxes of Visuality: Practicing Anthropology] (2012), as well as numerous scientific articles. Co-author of the film Żeby to było ciekawe (Making It Interesting, 2009) and co-editor of the book Zanikające granice. Antropologizacja nauki i jej dyskursów [Vanishing Boundaries: Anthropologisation of Science and Its Discourses] (2009). Co-ordinator of several funded research projects, including Oddolne tworzenie kultury [Bottom-up Culture] and Obrazy różnorodności kulturowej i dziedzictwa [Images of Cultural Diversity and Heritage] (NAFA Film Festival, Warsaw 2015).



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