Hi Professor!

While reading, a quote that stood out to me was “Funeral rites, sacred burial sites, and even ghost stories- people of all stripes use these as a means of taking the sting out of death. They’re how we remind ourselves that after we’re gone we won’t be forgotten.” I never thought of ghost stories as being a form of coming to terms with death or wanting to be remembered. I always saw them as something that served as cautionary tales or as something taboo to discuss at night, knowing everyone involved would have nightmares about it. Through this quote, I’ve come to understand that ghost stories can serve as connections to the past and as a way to preserve history rather than simply entertain.

When someone really close to my family that lived with us had passed, I remember my mom would joke saying that she would hear certain sounds at night that sounded like the cane they used to walk around with. Looking back now, I understand it as a way to honor their memory and almost pretend like they’re still with us. The stories she would tell us come morning, although brief, were still ones that preserved both sounds and visuals tied to this person we had become so close to.  Even mentioning the story served as a way to keep them in our conversations, ultimately giving us a way to cope with loss. 

While I was able to connect to the idea that ghost stories could be a way to preserve history almost lovingly, the chapter highlights the sad truth about how marginalized groups were denied this comfort,“stripping them of not only their life but also of their memory in death”. Some ghost stories were retold or structured in a way that altered the reality of the era that they represented, leaving out harsh historical truths and preventing the retelling of the enslavement of innocent people. I had never considered how ghost stories were also affected by racism and crafted in a way that painted white historical figures as harmless and unassuming. After reading this chapter,  I’ve become more interested in learning more about ghost stories and becoming more critical of those I hear next. 

Media ♥ :

The image I chose was of a painting where the artist painted ghosts over an old family photo. I felt that it connected to my ideas about family history being captured by stories, but also how each individual within a collective has their own history that could inevitably be passed to the generation that follows. 

Ghost Photographs by Angela Deane

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