How does your family history affect you as a person? That was the focus of a special workshop on family history at VOX-POP. For example, how do you deal with a inheritance that indirectly comes from a polluting company like Shell?
The grandfather of master’s student in urban history Ole Lechner (24) worked as a technician for Shell for much of his life. He was often far away, to the annoyance of his wife. One moment he was in the port of Jakarta; the next he was working on an oil rig somewhere in the middle of the sea. “Once he was sailing on a river in Nigeria. That country was overrun by Shell,” Lechner says. “After my grandfather’s death, I received an inheritance. With today’s knowledge, that feels a bit gut-wrenching, not only as his grandchild but also as a junior historian.”
Lechner told the story during a workshop on family history given by writer and actress Dilan Yurdakul, who is also a UvA alumnus. Her family history is a major inspiration for her theatre performances and her recently published novel Maskerziel. In the book, she describes how, as a third-generation woman of Turkish descent, she encounters gaps in her identity and how these have shaped her. During the workshop, she stressed the importance of knowing your family history. “Not only to take deeper root and identify with your own identity, but also to feel more confident in life,” Yurdakul said.
Because of exam week and the late announcement, only a handful of students had signed up for the workshop, including Lechner. “Petit comité,” university lecturer in European Studies Marleen Rensen called it. She opened the evening with a brief introduction of Yurdakul, who has also been an honorary fellow at the Faculty of Humanities since September this year. Together with Rensen and students, Yurdakul is researching the interpretation of migration in film and literature.
Writing Assignment
“Okay, let’s get going,” Yurdakul instructed. The students were tasked with zooming in on their own family history and writing it down. Specifically, they had to follow in the footsteps of a family member and flesh out their experiences. “That could be a situation, or a point at which that person had to make a decision,” Yurdakul explained. “Usually, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. Use your intuition with that.”
The students were given 20 minutes. Quiet music was put on, and some attendees went outside to smoke a cigarette. Others started writing immediately.
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Grandpa’s inheritance
“Who dares to sit here and read out their story?” Yurdakul interrupted the students’ flow. There was a hesitant response, but Lechner was ready to spearhead it. Lechner sat down on the stairs and started reading aloud:
“‘I’ve had enough,’ said Grandma. ‘Dirk—Lechner’s grandfather—is constantly grumbling and nagging at me. What did I deserve that for? He doesn’t see what I’ve had to give up taking care of our children. For example, the history studies I would have liked to have done. What I may have sacrificed for him so that he could go away, to Jakarta, Nigeria, or somewhere else far away. Sometimes—now that he is retired—I think his head is still in the engine room of the oil tankers he sailed. That the noise of ship engines prevents him from listening to me.’”
Everyone listened with admiration as Lechner’s story concluded. Yurdakul gave tips on structure afterwards, but then asked about Lechner's grandfather: “Who did he work for?” Lechner: “Shell.”
“Recently, I received an inheritance from him,” Lechner continued. “With today’s knowledge, that feels very uncomfortable.” Yurdakul: “It’s exactly this element you could magnify to give voice to Shell’s influence on personal life: a grandchild going to study history, a study grandmother would have liked to do but had to leave for her husband’s children and work, who then leaves an inheritance for you that, in light of the times, seems controversial: an intergenerational conflict influenced by Shell.”
Yurdakul immediately saw a performance in it: “Have you ever thought about doing something with the story?” Lechner: “It’s a special story with a lot of dark edges. I’d like to dive into that.” Yurdakul: “You can email me.”
After Lechner, the other students followed. Lecturer Marleen Rensen also briefly shared her family history: “People often asked my grandmother: how did you do that, twelve children? Then she answered, well it’s not so bad, they didn’t come at the same time.”
So what is the importance of knowing these kinds of personal stories? With that question, Yurdakul and Rensen concluded the evening. According to Rensen, the impartial and objective way of writing at university is not always the best way to tell stories to a wider audience. “It is often the personal stories, the voices one can connect with, that stick.” Yurdakul added: “By looking at topics from a personal angle, we may learn to understand the world around us even better, and most importantly, ourselves.”