Author Description

Between Generations is the second volume in the series International Yearbook of Oral History and Life Stories. Like its predecessor, Memory and Totalitarianism, this book concerns powerful memories which continue to shape the present, but in this case in almost all families throughout the world. What is it that parents pass down to their children? How can we understand the mixture of conscious and unconscious models, myths, and material inheritance which are intertwined in both family and individual life stories? The Special Editors of Between Generations, Daniel Bertaux and Paul Thompson, bring together in an innovative perspective contributions from the Americas and Asia as well as from western and eastern Europe. Their approach combines the techniques of life story research with the insights of family therapy in a book of great interest not only to historians and social scientists but also to professionals working with families. The aim of the International Yearbook is to increase our understanding of the recent past and changing present. It sets out to present and interpret autobiographical testimony, whether in the form of written autobiography, oral history, or life story interviews. Each issue will form a coherent volume focusing on a single theme. Edited by an international group of leading scholars, the Yearbook is genuinely interdisciplinary and intellectually stimulating. It will appeal to students in many areas, including history, sociology, literature, psychology, and anthropology.