Birgitta Frello
Roskilde University, Denmark
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Published in: Current Issues in European Cultural Studies; June 15-17; Norrköping; Sweden 2011
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 62:7, p. 49-54
Published: 2011-11-22
ISBN: 978-91-7519-993-1
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
During recent years; DR the Danish public service television station has launched several documentary serials that focus on kinship and genealogy. Serials such as Sporløs (Find my family); Ved du hvem du er? (Who do you think you are) and Slavernes slægt (Slaves in the Family) all focus on biological kinship either as the primary topic of the series or as an organizing and meaning giving devise that provides a point of identification that can simultaneously serve as a vehicle for telling other stories.
All of the serials; however; privilege a biocentric notion of kinship and a tight relation between biological kinship and identity; taking for granted that knowing one’s biological kin automatically leads to a better understanding of one’s personal identity. The paper discusses the possible implications and consequences of this conceptualization of kinship; and it is argued that while the serials reproduce biocentric notions of kinship; they also in practice illustrate how pragmatic kinship is.
