This dissertation examines three family history research experiences as public pedagogical spaces, analysing the narratives presented and participants’ negotiations with these. In the context of enhanced digitalisation and rapidly developing technologies, disturbances in the form of pandemics, hackers, and wars remind us of the instability of the present, raising existential questions and reinforcing the desire to anchor oneself in the past. Despite this growing interest, academic research focusing on family history is sparse. This dissertation project is unique in its focus on a Swedish context, the selection of three specific family history experiences as case studies, and its use of a public pedagogical perspective examining relational learning beyond formal institutions intrinsically woven within the fabric of society.

This dissertation uses three case studies as reflections of more extensive experiences of the phenomenon of interest in family history and the past. These include the Swedish family history television series Allt för Sverige’s previous contestants’ narratives, the results from four genetic ancestry testing companies, and participants’ narratives from two Swedish non-formal family history research courses. Analysing these further within this compilation dissertation engages a conceptual framework consisting of Rüsen’s historical narrative typology, Hall’s decoding/encoding model, and Ellsworth’s use of Public Pedagogy as relational and facilitating transitional spaces for knowledge in the making. An emphasis on the process of pedagogy, rather than the product of knowledge, is prominent in this hermeneutic phenomenological study and reflects the concept of Bildung as the cultivation of the whole person.

The findings reveal a more complex picture of family historians, history, and family history research experiences than what is often portrayed. Participants deem not only the effervescent or exceptional findings and activities valuable, but the everyday banal is perceived as significant and contributes to the development of understanding and meaning. Moreover, regardless of the physical site of the experience, the infused pedagogical intent is illustrated through participants’ interactions and negotiations. In a field surrounded by rock walls their ancestor built, discovering a relative had only five spoons in a testament, or examining a deep map to trace the movements of ancestors all provide opportunities to juxtapose, confirm, and/or challenge previous knowledge with new information and experiences, reiterating the extensive reach of public pedagogy.

Despite narratives presenting conflicting depictions of the past, participants of this study demonstrate agency in their negotiations, resulting in enhanced empathy and enriched historical consciousness. By exploring these family history research experiences as pedagogical spaces, this dissertation provides a more nuanced understanding of the broader field of public pedagogy and contributes new insights from Swedish and participants’ perspectives to the growing body of research on family history. It highlights the potential and benefits of examining the small, seemingly insignificant, everyday items and events. Moreover, it contributes a more comprehensive illustration of the seepage/pervasiveness of public pedagogy as complex and relational.

I denna avhandling undersöks tre släktforskningsupplevelser som utgår från en svensk kontext och fungerar som exempel av det som på engelska kallas för public pedagogical spaces. Avhandlingen analyserar vilka narrativ som framträder och deltagarnas förhandlingar av dessa. Ökad digitalisering och snabbt utvecklad teknik påminner oss om hur instabil samtiden är. Problem och utmaningar i form av pandemier, hackerattacker och krig väcker existentiella frågor och underblåser människors strävan mot att förankra sig i det förflutna. Dessa tendenser förstärker även behovet av att studera släktforskning vetenskapligt vilket ännu inte fullt ut återspeglas av det växande intresset. I avhandlingen ses public pedagogy som relationellt lärande bortom formella institutioner men nära sammanvävt med samhället.

Det omfattande intresset för släktforskning och det förflutna representeras i denna avhandling av tre fallstudier. De inkluderar narrativen hos deltagare i den svenska släktforsknings-tv-serien Allt för Sverige, resultat från fyra genetiska släktforskningsföretag samt deltagares narrativ i två svenska icke-formella släktforskningskurser. För att analysera dessa används ett konceptuellt ramverk bestående av Rüsens historiska narrativa typologi, Halls encoding-/decodingmodell och Ellsworth användning av public pedagogy som relationellt och format av vad Ellsworth benämner transitional spaces i byggandet av kunskap. Centralt i denna hermeneutisk-fenomenologiska avhandling är betoningen av den pedagogiska processen, snarare än kunskapen som produkt, vilket återspeglas i användandet av begreppet Bildung som kultivering av hela människan.

Resultaten ger en mer nyanserad bild av familjehistoria, historieintresse och släktforskningsupplevelser än den som ofta presenteras. Deltagarna anser inte bara att de extraordinära resultaten och aktiviteterna som värdefulla, utan även att det vardagliga uppfattas som betydelsefullt och bidrar till utvecklingen av förståelse och mening. Oavsett den fysiska platsen för upplevelsen illustreras dessutom den pedagogiska avsikten genom deltagarnas interaktioner och förhandlingar. Att besöka en bondgård omgiven av stenmurar byggda av deras förfäder, upptäcka att en släkting bara hade fem skedar enligt testamentet, eller utforska en djupkarta för att spåra förfädernas rörelser ger ytterligare möjligheter att jämföra, bekräfta och/eller utmana tidigare kunskaper med ny information och nya erfarenheter, vilket bekräftar den breda räckvidden av public pedagogy.

Trots förekomsten av motsägelsefulla framställningar av det förflutna i de undersökta fallen, visar deltagarna aktörskap i sina förhandlingar, vilket resulterar i ökad empati och ett berikat historiemedvetande. Att utforska släktforskningsupplevelser som pedagogiska miljöer för lärande ger en mer nyanserad inblick i det breda fältet public pedagogy. Denna avhandling bidrar med nya insikter från en svensk kontext, från ett deltagarperspektiv och med en pedagogisk inriktning, till det växande intresset för släktforskning. Avhandlingen belyser potentialer i att undersöka de små, till synes triviala, vardagliga föremålen och händelser. Dessutom bidrar den med en mer omfattande förståelse av public pedagogy som synnerligen komplext och relationellt.

Is family history research always life-changing and sensational? Or is there something significant in the banal that the participants in this study reported? This study aims to explore the spectrum of experiences of family history research, focusing specifically on the banal. I argue that it is in examining the banal everyday motivations, experiences, and findings that a greater understanding of how the average individual negotiates and builds meaning through their use of cultural heritage, family history, and the past. The everyday banal is what is reproduced and remains after the effervescence fades away and the normal redundancy in traditional society continues. The banal withstands the sands of time and effectively (re)produces narratives and binary tropes of identity and the past. This study examines the narratives collected from semi-structured interviews with seven participants from two Swedish non-formal courses in family history research. These narratives are important as they reveal participants’ engagement with historical consciousness and the relationship between the past, present and future. Moreover, the stories they tell are significant in revealing that participants learn family history research for numerous reasons, including “something to do” alongside those who wish to have a deeper historical understanding. Family history research is a collective and collaborative activity despite the individualised nature of focusing on one’s ancestors. Participants’ research led to discoveries that were not always revolutionary, reinforcing, for example, banal traits seen in themselves and banal activities they carry out today. This study found that while the reasons for participation, the act of attending class, and participants’ research may not necessarily result in the extraordinary–thieves or kings–for these individuals participating in family history research, the banal reasoning and banal results are significant.

Förord:

Lärande och kommunikations doktorandsymposium 2023 organiserades av HLKs Doktorandpodd. Symposiets syfte var att kommunicera och synliggöra specifikt HLK´s doktoranders pågående forskning i sitt lokala sammanhang.

Villkoret för att få medverka vid symposiet var att doktoranderna skulle vara inskrivna vid någon av Högskolan förLärande och Kommunikations (HLK) forskarutbildningar samt ett på förhand inskickat abstract. Instruktionerna för de abstract vi frågade efter innehöll endast en begränsning av ord (150–300). Sedan var det upp till varje doktorand att utforma sitt abstract efter eget tycke och smak. Det är också dessa abstract som presenteras i den här boken.

Symposiet gick av stapeln torsdagen 14 december 2023 och genomfördes i hybrid form. Charlotta Mellander, professor vid Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), var keynote speaker och berättade utifrån sina erfarenheter om alternativa möjligheter för forskare att nå ut med sin forskning till en bredare publik. Därefter presenterade tio doktorander sina forskningsprojekt. Efter varje presentation fick symposiets åhörare tillfälle till att ställa frågor. I vårt poddavsnitt 19 pratar vi mer om symposiet.

Symposiet sponsrades med fika av HLKs doktorandorganisation men organiserades alltså av HLKs Doktorandpoddsmedlemmar Karen Ann Blom, Josefin Rostedt och Jens Alvén Sjöberg.

Abstrakt boken ges ut av HLKs doktorandpodd vid Jönköping University och har designats av Jens Alvén Sjöberg.

HLK:s doktorandpodd är en podd som görs av tre doktorander vid Högskolan för Lärande och Kommunikation vid Jönköping University.Avsnitt 16 - Vara på konferens om rädsla och vad gör andra doktorander? Doktorandpodd@HLK.

While the interest and search for identity through genealogy or family history is not new, the increased mediatization, access, and range of vehicles through which one can engage and learn are. What are the effects of this mediatization of identity and genealogy? How do individuals understand and interact with these mediatized representations? Since the expanded availability and marketing of genetic/DNA testing in the 1990s, and media programmes that trace the “roots” of famous people such as “Who do you think you are?” interest in genealogy has exponentially grown. In relation, ancestry tourism has grown in popularity before the Covid-19 pandemic and is projected by many researchers, culture, and government organisations post-pandemic to be instrumental in rebuilding tourism for many affected places and countries. The Swedish reality television programme, “Allt för Sverige” acts as a bridge between the mediatization of genealogy and this ancestry tourism interest. American contestants are introduced to a frame of Swedish identity as produced through the institutional structures of a television show, reflecting larger historical and socio-cultural assumptions, ideologies, and knowledge. This identity encoded by the programme of “Allt för Sverige” is engaged with/decoded and reacted to by the contestant. Utilising the concept of frame and framing, from Goffman and media studies, the presentation of Swedish Identity in “Allt för Sverige’s” is explored in the narratives from semi-structured interviews with 16 previous contestants. This data is analysed through Hall’s theoretical encoding/decoding model. This study contributes with new knowledge to the ongoing research examining the interest and mediatization of genealogy by focusing on the effect on participants in front of the camera instead of the targeted audience. 

Family history research, in its many forms, remains one of the most popular pastimes for individuals across the globe. Technological advancements and increased digitalisation have made the past more accessible than ever. It is not uncommon for individuals to travel virtually and physically across temporalities and spaces. With greater accessibility, there is a broader range of cultures, social categories, identities, and narratives, triggering questions of belonging, identity, and purpose. How do individuals negotiate the increasingly varied representations of the past and identity, and how does family history research contribute to this process of knowledge and understanding?

Family history research places the internal self and external impetus in juxtaposition through pedagogical hinges, constructing opportunities for participants to engage in knowledge-in-the-making. This study explicitly emphasises the process of knowledge rather than its product, reflecting the concept of Bildung and engaging a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective. Focusing on Swedish and participant perspectives, I investigate three cases: Swedish family history television series, Allt för Sverige’s previous contestants, results from four genetic ancestry testing companies, and two non-formal family history courses’ participants. Methods include semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, participant observation, and reflexive thematic analysis. The thesis synthesises the results to investigate how experiences depict narratives of the past and identity, how participants engage with these representations and identify pedagogical hinges enabling transitional spaces for knowledge construction.

This presentation focuses on the third study. Results reveal that course participants engage actively with family history research, enriching historical consciousness, empathy, and construction of historical significance. Participants are not a homogenous group and cite various motivations and reactions to their research experiences, from something to do while their husband plays golf or when it is cold outside to searching for an adoptee’s biological family. Assessment of the participants’ negotiations with narratives reveals multiple pedagogical hinges and exposes the permeable and dynamic edges of traditional boundaries and binaries such as self/other and private/public. Moreover, the results emphasise that the significance of family history research for participants is found equally in the everyday banal and effervescent.

HLK:s doktorandpodd är en podd som görs av tre doktorander vid Högskolan för Lärande och Kommunikation vid Jönköping University.

Album för avsnitt 12-14, 2022.

History can be described as a story, or narrative reporting on past events to create meaning and explanation for the present/future. Narratives of genetic history are presented in the genetic ancestry testing (GAT) results specifically maps, percentages, and related information to consumers expecting "answers" related to identity and belonging. Engaging in thematic narrative analysis I ask how GAT results' narratives use ethnicity/race/nationality to categorize sameness/difference and what these narratives inform about group boundaries through the comparison of online result materials received from four GAT companies: 23andMe, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FamilyTreeDNA. These results are presented as an in-between space where bio-historic-cultural contents are negotiated with previous knowledge/experiences. This study found results narrate dichotomies of "self" and others, individual and collective, personal and private, and the present and the historical, and serves to highlight problematic perceptions of genetics history as an essential/unchanging product, reducing and ignoring diversity within and moving between groups.

The attempt for objectivity within research often results in the careful extraction of human emotion. This results in an incomplete understanding of the interactions and motivations surrounding human beings and the societies in which they are a part. Emotional geographies provide a cross-disciplinary example of how to attempt to embrace emotions in the conceptual and experiential understanding of the socio-spatial interactions and expression. This article explores how individuals verbally construct authentication of genealogical relevant places, the choices of which elements are included/excluded, and how they use this authentication process to situate themselves as a continuation of the past. This study is significant in challenging the perception of the passivity of individuals and place, by highlighting the multiplicity of individuals’ interactive emotional engagement and performance based on Deleuzian desire.

Participants of this study comprise of 16 Swedish Americans previous contestants of the Swedish reality genealogy television programme Allt för Sverige (in English, Great Swedish Adventure). A programme focused on individuals' family history, contestants are exposed to Swedish historical and cultural places and activities, competing in elimination challenges with the goal to win a family reunion. Drawing upon qualitative data collection of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, participants’ descriptive narratives were examined developing from Dovey’s theoretical framework of “place-as-assemblage” through narrative discourse analysis.

Results of this study revealed that individuals describe not stagnant historical places, but rather performatively construct and/or deconstruct using a variety of components to create an emotional assemblage of place reflective of their own purposes and desires.