Short Abstract

This panel invites ethnographic – including auto-ethnographic – contributions that address issues of secrets and silences within families. What is left unsaid or only whispered within homes and among relatives? Why? Can anthropology help with addressing these and finding possibilities for healing?

Long Abstract

This panel invites ethnographic – including auto-ethnographic – contributions that address issues of secrets and silences within families, especially those relating to polarised contexts and histories that can provoke divided politics and loyalties. What is left unsaid or only whispered or hinted at within homes and among relatives? What motivates such non-saying? Why are some things unsayable?

Silence does not, however, necessarily signify the absence of speech or voice; it may be enclosed in bodily memories and embodied practices, imbued with affects, and emotions. Like memory itself, a “conspiracy of silence” can connect people, and the untold may become the foundation of collective identities. What can anthropology learn from the untold? How can anthropologists—accustomed to words, narration, and observation—address silence? How is silence shaped by one’s research position and what are the ethics of probing into secrets and uncovering reasons for keeping quiet, which may involve individuals’ self-protection from painful memories or encounters?

Our interest is also in the consequences of addressing family secrets and silences, through revelation or other means, potentially including from anthropological intervention. In some cases, disclosure may further aggravate and harden divisions, evoking uncomfortable pasts and perhaps even extending the unsayable. We are especially interested, however, in cases in which addressing secrets – perhaps across generations – can have restorative effects and show directions towards healing. We also encourage contributions that through ethnographic examples examine the question of how anthropological engagement can foster dialogue across polarized societies, where silence may also serve as a means of survival.

This Panel has 3 pending paper proposals.
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