Paper short abstract:

The paper examines how family cohesion and mutual support are preserved through the practices of memory-making within several Ghanaian families. It discusses how family history serves as a source of inspiration for desirable futures of family members.

Paper long abstract:

“Now, let me explain to you: When we look at the Baffour family as we see it today, this group has one patriarch, and that patriarch is Robert Patrick Baffour the first” – in that way, the Baffour’s family historian started his account of the family history on a get-together of US-based relatives. In this paper, I examine the practices of memory-making within this transnational family network hailing from Southern Ghana. I will discuss what exactly is remembered, on which occasions and through which practices. I will contextualize the memory-making within that family by comparing it to other family networks from Southern Ghana. Growing up in Elmina, the so-called founding father of the Baffour family got educated by European missionaries in the nineteenth century. Stories about influential family members who my interview partners described as founders, mothers, and architects of their families were frequently told on different occasions. Family history is remembered through the drawing of genealogies, the writing of biographies, the setting up of family foundations, birthday celebrations for well-known deceased family members and stories about ancestors on informal family gatherings. I will discuss how family cohesion and mutual support within the family network are created and preserved through these practices and how family history serves as a source of inspiration for the younger generation within the family.