Re-Making Kinship. From Community to Family: A Sephardic Experience in France
The Sephardic Jews living in France, who use Judeo-Spanish as their heritage language, are an assimilated diasporic group that has witnessed war, assimilation and marginalization. With the increase in genealogical research in Western Society, many Sephardim have experienced a process of revitalization of memory through kin relations with people of similar descent. This complex revitalization takes form within the structure of a community cultural centre which acts as a place for re-making kinship thanks to the emotional experience of sharing a specific musical heritage. This phenomenon forces us to examine the tension between « traditional » kinship systems — embodied in the matrilineal bloodline in the case of halakhic Jewish identity — and symbolic kinship anchored in the idea of a « chosen family », to rethink kinship as a mixture between biology and culture, as well as to reconsider current anthropological debates on religion thought beyond the strict religious practices.
Age and Generational Issues Family and Household Sephardi Jews Ladino and Haketia Jewish Revival Main Topic: Other Anthropology
24(2)
97-120
Link to article including link to pdf, Re-Making Kinship. From Community to Family: A Sephardic Experience in France
Re-Making Kinship. From Community to Family: A Sephardic Experience in France. 2016: 97-120. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.7202/1050503ar