Women's `Family Speech': A Trigenerational Study of Family Memory

Abstract

The theme of this research work is a study of women's family speech'. The author reports on a trigenerational survey carried out in three families of the Belgian bourgeoisie. The author concentrates upon an individual, female perspective, while retaining the context of the family, and the social and geographical whole in which it is located. The objective is not to claim to arrive at a historical `truth' but to study the family memory as it is offered, related and demonstrated by the women interviewed. Two registers of `family speech' were taken into consideration: on the one hand, the family individuals; and on the other hand, the material media, i.e. family locations, objects and photographs. In this article, the author mainly discusses the material media, especially family homes and family objects.