Family, Memory, and Displacement: Introduction

This introduction situates Displaced Families, Dispersed Memories within global and historical contexts of forced migration and family separation. It outlines key concepts, such as family memory, postmemory, embodied memories, transnational and multidirectional memory, and, drawing on the book’s chapters, discusses how mnemonic practices transmit trauma, foster resilience, and challenge hegemonic narratives. To summarize the book’s main contribution, the introduction emphasizes the family as a site of both vulnerability and strength, where silences and storytelling intersect with cultural and political frameworks. Finally, it presents the volume’s three thematic strands, silences and sensory memories, trauma and resilience, and counter-memories, illustrating how interdisciplinary approaches reveal the enduring impact of displacement on families across diverse temporal and geographical contexts.