Att minnas genom släkten: Judisk släktforskning som minnesarbete och identitetsskapande i Sverige
2026 (Swedish)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesisAlternative title
Remembering through family : Jewish genealogy as memory work and identity creation in Sweden (Swedish)
Abstract [en]
The purpose of this study is to analyse how Jewish genealogy functions as a memory work through which individual family histories are given identity-constructing significance. By exploring individual narratives in a Swedish minority context, the study examines how genealogy is used to create continuity between the past and the present, and how this memory work relates to the understanding of Jewish identity. The empirical material consists of qualitative, semi-structured interviews with four individuals connected to the Jewish Genealogical Society in Sweden. Theoretically, the study is situated within Wendy Bottero’s framework of family history as a social and performative practice, and Barbara Czarniawska’s concept of enactive narrative. The findings demonstrate that Jewish genealogy operates as an active identity-constructing practice where participants navigate an intergenerational legacy of silence and fear. The encounter with fragmentary archival records, which are historically shaped by institutional power relations and documentation biases, is experienced as a form of detective work. Through narrative work, individuals transform administrative fragments into personal memorials, thereby bridging historical losses, counteracting the erasure of the Holocaust, and filling existential voids with a sense of contemporary belonging.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026. , p. 45
Keywords [en]
Jewish, Family, Genealogy, Memory, Memory work, Identity, Identity work
Keywords [sv]
Judisk, Familj, Genealogi, Minne, Minnesarbete, Identitet, Identitetsskapande
National Category
Religious Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-60475OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-60475DiVA, id: diva2:2079062
Subject / course
The Study of Religions
Presentation
(Swedish)
Supervisors
Examiners
2026-06-262026-06-242026-06-26Bibliographically approved