Remembering the Dead: The (Re)Construction of Faroese Community on the Radio

Abstract

This article triangulates radio, social relations, and remembrance to explore how the Faroese memorialize their dead and what these practices tell us about how “communities of meaning” are symbolically created in small-scale societies. The Faroese have a remarkable appreciation for local remembrance through obituaries, “death notices,” well-attended funerals, and the writing of local histories (bygdarsøgur). The Faroese constantly (re)construct Faroese community on the radio. A Faroese community acts as a repository of symbols—signifiers of belonging which equate to knowledge of lineage. Villagers demarcate the boundaries of these communities symbolically. With radio “death notices” read out twice a day, the radio voice is not just memorializing but is also the token of a nurtured linguistic consciousness. The Faroese have a “felt” attachment for their language, and alongside memorializing practices, the spoken word is an important contributing factor to this “community of meaning.”