New book explores the enduring presence of the dead in family life
Through a rich and innovative methodology of collaborative critical family history, Professor King explores how families create afterlives for their ancestors
A new book by a professor in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures delves into the intricate ways families remember and maintain connections with their ancestors.
Living with the Dead: Memories, Histories, and the Stories Families Tell in Modern Britain by Laura King, Professor of Collaborative History at the School of History, examines the enduring presence of the dead within family life and the vital role they play in shaping identity and memory.
Through a rich and innovative methodology of collaborative critical family history, Professor King explores how families create afterlives for their ancestors.
Drawing on interviews, personal archives, and a unique collaboration with fifteen family historians – including her own family – the book uncovers the power dynamics that shape ways histories are constructed, shared, and passed down over time. Laura worked with those researching their own families to ask big questions of the small or large collections and stories they’d inherited – delving into the shoeboxes, attics, and under the stairs cupboards to uncover what gets passed on through generations of a family.
The book considers a variety of touchpoints between the living and the dead, including graves, homes, heirlooms, photographs, writing, research, and storytelling, and poses profound questions about who and what gets remembered.
Professor Laura King said:
“At a time of growing interest in family histories and genealogy, Living with the Dead considers the ongoing relationships we have with those who have passed away, examining how those relationships continue to matter and influence families’ sense of identity over many decades.
“From a Christmas pudding recipe passed down from great-grandmother to great-granddaughter, to repeated stories of a family fleeing violence in Belfast, the book follows fifteen families’ histories and explores how those pasts shape our present.”
In addition to her role as Professor of Collaborative History and Deputy Head of the School of History, Professor King is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She also serves as Deputy Director of History & Policy and sits on the editorial board of the open access journal Genealogy.
Living With the Dead is out now and a digital version is available.
