Suspended conversations : the afterlife of memory in photographic albums / Martha Langford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Langford, Martha.

Contributor:

Musée McCord d'histoire canadienne.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Photograph albums--Social aspects.

Photograph albums.

Oral tradition.

Photographs in genealogy.

Photography in historiography.

Musée McCord d'histoire canadienne.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (252 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Albums are treasured by families, collected as illustrations of the past by museums of social history, and examined by scholars for what they can reveal about attitudes and sensibilities. Most agree that albums are stories that come to life in the retelling - but when no one is left to tell the tale, the intrigue of the album becomes a puzzle, a suspended conversation. Langford argues that oral consciousness provides the missing key. By correlating photography and orality she shows how albums were designed to work as performances and how we can unlock their mysteries.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Preface: Hellohellohello""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction: Show and Tell""; ""The Idea of Album""; ""The Album as Collection""; ""Memoirs and Travelogues""; ""The Idea of Family""; ""Orality and Photography""; """"Photographs"" 1916�1945""; ""Conclusion: Remembering to Tell""; ""Appendix 1: A Note on the Photographic Collections at the McCord Museum of Canadian History""; ""Appendix 2: The Photographic Albums Illustrated in the Text""; ""Notes""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""; ""A""; ""B""; ""C""; ""D""; ""E""; ""F""; ""G""; ""H""; ""I""; ""J""; ""K""; ""L""; ""M""

""N""""O""; ""P""; ""R""; ""S""; ""T""; ""V""; ""W""; ""Y""; ""Z""

Notes:

Based on a collection of albums, compiled 1860-1960, held by the McCord Museum of Canadian History.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-85925-0

9786612859250

0-7735-6913-8