Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Sociology

Advisor

Barbara Katz-Rothman

Committee Members

Lynn Chancer

Thomas DeGloma

Wendy Luttrell

Subject Categories

Film and Media Studies | Sociology | Sociology of Culture | Visual Studies

Keywords

Visual Autoethnography, Visual Sociology, Visual Culture, Family Photography, Generational Trauma, Collective Memory

Abstract

Family photographs, and particularly the curation of family photo albums, serve as a source of data, providing researchers with the opportunity to illustrate the role of the visual in reproducing certain social norms and ideals by dictating the depiction or representation of specific types of families and experiences. Arguably, what is left outside the frame of a photograph is more revealing about familial norms, memory, and narrative than what is deliberately captured within it (Hirsch, 1997a; Kuhn, 2002a). In other words, the hegemony and standardization of family photos shed light on the need for an alternative visual narrative that depicts the breadth of experiences and captures reality rather than an idealized future in the name of the captured past. I seek to bring to light what is not photographed, such as ‘generational trauma’ often hidden in plain sight or silenced, thereby hiding cycles of ‘cultural trauma’ within families across generations. This visual autoethnographic and visual semiotic study analyzes recreated images collected from my traditional family photo album displayed in my childhood home, coupled with the public images, offering a counter-narrative of the self and the family with multiple readings. A key finding from this visual autoethnographic and visual semiotic study is that both personal family photography and public archival images are integral to the formation of collective memory and the reclamation of self—particularly through acts of reimagination and the visual representation of lived experience shaped by 'generational trauma'. A broader goal of this research is to bridge sociological theory and visual research methodologies to identify the integral role of the visual in aspects that underpin ‘mnemonic battles’ used to create a sense of ‘collective amnesia’ of the traumatic past rooted in systemic acts of violence across generations.

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