Sophie Schasiepen introduces the histories discussed in the different episodes, gives some context to the choice of languages and talks about the reasons for creating the Mourning the Dead podcast. 

'Mourning the Dead: Connecting histories of people, places, and remains' is a podcast about histories connected to the mortal remains of people. We talk about the violent dislocation of remains during or in the aftermath of colonial rule, the legacies of scientific racism, and the meaning of these histories for postcolonial struggles, memory politics and the work of restitution and redress.

This is the English version of this podcast. You can also listen to the version in French. 

Credits

Author: Sophie Schasiepen
Narrators: Sophie Schasiepen and Mamello Makhetha
Producer / editor: Andri Burnett

Acknowledgments 

Many thanks to Professor Ciraj Rassool at the Department of Historical Studies for his unwavering support, as well as to Jane Smidt and the central administration of the University of the Western Cape for their administrative work.

References

Claudia Rankine, ‘The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning’, in Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work of Grief, edited by Cindy Milstein (AK Press 2017).

Funding

The Mourning the Dead podcast was produced as part of the contribution by the University of the Western Cape to the research project Reconnecting 'Objects': Epistemic Plurality and Transformative Practices in and beyond Museums, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.