Narrative Inheritance: A Nuclear Family With Toxic Secrets

Abstract

A narrative inheritance refers to stories given to children by and about family members. Using the case of his own “nuclear family,” the author explores the power of these stories in our lives, particularly when they are later shown to have been constructed out of serious omissions, distortions, secrets, and lies. The implications of this personal ethnographic account speak to issues of family communication, narrative inquiry, and the relationship of work and home life in families whose everyday lives are defined by codes of secrecy.