Artiklen bidrager til en familiesociologisk diskussion om, hvordan natur og kultur spiller sammen i forståelsen af de senmoderne familierelationer. På baggrund af et empirisk udvalg af 44 familieberetninger, indsamlet blandt midaldrende danske informanter, udforsker artiklen, hvordan individer inkluderes eller ekskluderes som familiemedlemmer. Gennem beretningens linser fokuserer analysen på, hvordan familier før og nu har håndteret kritiske begivenheder som uægte børn, skilsmissefamilierelationer, genforening af adoptivbørn og konstruktioner af genealogier. Inden for et tidsrum på 50 år identificerer analysen tre skift i opfattelsen af ”rigtige familiebånd”: Omkring 1950 refererer ”rigtig” til normativ konformitet, omkring 1975 er den rigtige familierelation den autentiske, mens ”rigtig” omkring år 2000 konnoterer til videnskabelig sandhed. Selv om disse forståelser af ”rigtige familiebånd” på nogle punkter synes at have afløst hinanden successivt, var de alligevel samtidigt til stede, da dataindsamlingen fandt sted.
ENGELSK ABSTRACT:
Mai Heide Ottosen: Correct and Incorrect Family Relations. On Social Constructions of Genealogy
This article aims to contribute to the academic debate within the field of family and kinship studies that discusses how nature and culture interplay in the perceived constitution of (late) modern family relationships. Based on a sample of 44 case histories of families gathered from middle-aged Danes, the article explores how individuals are included or excluded as family members. Using the narratives, the analysis focuses on how families have handled critical events such as illegitimate children, post-divorce relationships, adoption reunions and constructions of genealogies, both in the present and the past. The article identifies three shifts in the perception of what “proper family ties” mean over a span of 50 years. In 1950 “proper” refers to normative conformity; in 1975 the proper family relationship was what is authentic; while in 2000 “proper” connotes scientific truth. Although these understandings appear to have succeeded each other, they are all still alive today.
Key words: Family, kinship, family law, biographical methods.
