Family Life, Trauma and Loss in the Twentieth Century

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxviii

   PDF

2. Recovery, Retrieval and Healing

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 1-19

3. Missing Persons

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 21-46

4. Changing Perspectives on Death, Dying and Loss

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 47-60

5. World War One and its Transformations

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 61-104

6. Family Life Between the Wars: 1918–1931

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 105-122

7. War in Prospect, 1930–1939

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 123-145

8. At Home and Abroad

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 147-177

9. Experiencing the Horror of World War Two

   • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

   Pages 179-209

10. Growing Up Post-War: All Over Now?

    • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

    Pages 211-244

11. Endings and Beginnings

    • Carol Komaromy, Jenny Hockey

    Pages 245-262

12. Back Matter

    Pages 263-266

    PDF

This book uses personal memoir to examine links between private trauma and the socio-cultural approach to death and memory developed within Death Studies.  The authors, two key Death Studies scholars, tell the stories that constitute their family lives. Each bears witness to the experiences of men who were either killed or traumatised during World War One and World War Two and shows the ongoing implications of these events for those left behind. The book illustrates how the rich oral history and material culture legacy bequeathed by these wars raises issues for everyone alive today. Belonging to a generation who grew up in the shadow of war, Komaromy and Hockey ask how we can best convey unimaginable events to later generations, and what practical, moral and ethical demands this brings.

Family Life, Trauma and Loss in the Twentieth Century will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines including Death Studies, Military History, Research Methods, Family History, the Sociology of the Family and Life Writing.

• world war 1
• death studies
• world war 2
• Trauma
• grandparents
• sociology
• histrorical sociology

“Family Life, Trauma and Loss in the Twentieth Century is a rich and engaging memoir that can be accessed by all, regardless of professional background or specialty. Indeed, its wide scope means that it will appeal to anyone interested in genealogy, material culture, military and social history, as well as death studies.” (Laura Towers, Mortality, Vol. 24 (1), 2019)

“As so much has been written about death […] this particular genre offers new scope. It is, within itself, complex, yet graspable.” (Douglas J. Davies, Durham University, UK)

“Hockey and Komaromy are two of the leading theorists of Death Studies and their extensive work in this field make this monograph not only profoundly interesting, but crucially important to the historical and sociological disciplines.” (Grace Huxford, University of Bristol, UK)

“A hugely original and significant contribution to the field of death studies and related interests in loss and trauma.” (Arnar Árnason, Aberdeen University, UK)

• The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

  Carol Komaromy

• The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

  Jenny Hockey

Carol Komaromy is Visiting Research Fellow at The Open University, UK, where she has worked since 1994.

Jenny Hockey is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Sheffield, UK.

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