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Paper short abstract

This paper explores how everyday supernatural experiences in the United States inspired a family narrative tradition that reaffirms belief of the tellers and fosters belief in succeeding generations. It proposes extending David Hufford’s experiential theory of belief to include memorate listeners.

Paper long abstract

This paper considers the role of the memorate in family tradition in the United States, in the context of a post-Enlightenment world of Weberian disenchantment where supernatural experience is deemed abnormal. Based on ethnographic interviews, the paper examines the memorates of three sisters (the author’s mother and two aunts) who share a closely related set of beliefs involving the survival of human consciousness after death which stem from personal interactions with spirits/the dead. The paper explores how these experiences have transformed into a family narrative tradition that has created a community of dialogue that serves to reaffirm the belief of the tellers as well as to create a foundation of belief in succeeding generations. In so doing, the paper extends folklorist David Hufford’s experiential theory of belief that centers on personal experience. It argues that Hufford’s theory should be expanded to include individuals whose close relationships of trust with memorate tellers leads to the memorates fundamentally impacting the listeners’ belief systems as well.