Lecture room: Oddi – 206 . Click for a map.
Working institution
The University Hospital, Landspítali, since 1989 as a hospital chaplain.
Abstract
Families cope with difficult situations in various ways. In working through loss and bereavement it has become standard of good practice to view such experiences from the perspective of Continuing Bonds (Klass, Silverman, Nickman). But do the experiences of loss in older generations have an impact on the younger ones?
A common question in Iceland is “Hverra manna ertu?”(Who are members of your family). The person is defined through bonds of kinship. As a result it can be argued that what happens to members of you family also happens to you.
Difficult experiences which took place in the lives of grandparents or even great-grandparents may have had an long-lasting effect and may still be visible in the lives of generations since then.
In this workshop I want to explore how one chapter in the life of my father’s side of the family has had a profound effect on the way values and bonds are defined. To do so we need to look back over 100 years, and ask how such experiences continue to have an effect on future generations. It also raises a question about the role of taboos within the family system, and what happens when they’re broken in younger generations. Is there a time to speak, and a time to be silent? Can rituals help?