The question of heritage, mainly intangible cultural heritage, is intertwined with the tropes of crisis, risk and threat. Hence, the concern with preservation and safeguarding seeks to halt, slow or mitigate potential processes of change and loss. Recognising that families play a crucial role in cultural transmission, their first-hand accounts can serve as an intersubjective repository of past events (memory) and future developments (imagination). This type of narrative, which, in short, flows seamlessly from family origins to individual destinies, cumulatively gives family members senses of identity and belonging and horizons of possibilities. All these issues will be discussed and illustrated through empirical cases taken from a recent research project conducted in Lisbon, Portugal, based on Fado musicians' life and family (hi)stories. That research was enriched not only by documentation originating in the field (interviews, genealogies) but also by materials from the past (documentary films, vinyl and digital recordings), including the memorabilia safeguarded for generations (family photographs, historical recordings, collections of lyrics and music scores). Such personal belongings (considered here as life materials) will be explored as intrinsic documentary and diegetic devices.

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Family (hi)stories,Biographical objects