The first, by Zoe Williams, provides such "charming" quotes as:
"In all probability, it lacks context - sure, you might find a tinker uncle who went to a Putney debate or was a Chartist, but generally speaking they all just get born, marry and die."
"If therapy is for people with more money than sense, genealogy is for those with more time than either."
"By definition, it lacks high drama - if anyone in your family had ever done anything remotely interesting, nobody else in the family would have stopped talking about it."
If you read the article, make sure you also read the comments by her readers.
The rebuttal is written by Dave Waddell, author of Who Do You Think You Are?, the books accompanying the BBC-TV series of the same name.
So, researching your ancestry is an impediment to understanding the past? That's absurd. It encourages people to engage with history and immerse themselves in the events that shaped our society. The vast majority of us are descended from ordinary working-class folk. These were the people who fought and were killed in wars; who were forced by circumstance into the workhouse; who worked in the mills or were sent down the mines aged 10. And who exactly does Williams believe comprised the "radicals, grassroots movements, that sort of thing"?
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I would say that genealogy is VERY important to me. It helped me locate the ONLY relative who had survived The Holocaust on my mgf's side. The only child to survive out of four sisters, their husbands and their numerous children. Only one survived. Since my grandfather never spoke about them, we knew NOTHING of their lives. Now everything has blossomed, not unlike a rose. I know what their lives are like. The surviving relative, now 81, fought in the resistance, served in the Red Army and moved to Israel. He now has five great-grandchildren. Unremarkable? I disagree! If nothing more, this has become a valuable historical tool and an invaluable treasure for me and my family. Genealogy is a blessing!!
ReplyDeletePhyllis Grodzinsky Winstead
I would say the genealogy is VERY important to me. It helped me locate the ONLY relative who had survived the holocaust on my mgf's side. The only child to survive out of four sisters, their husbands and their numerous children. Since my grandfather never spoke of them, we knew NOTHING of their lives. Now everyting has blossomed, not unlike a rose. I now know what their lives were like, that they had farms, horses, etc. The surviving relative, now 81, fought in the resistance, served in the Red Army and moved to Israel. He now has five great-grandchildren. Unremarkable? I disagree. If nothing more, this information has become a valuable historical tool and an invaluable treasure for me and my family. Genealogy is a blessing!
ReplyDeletePhyllis Grodzinsky Winstead