Bereavement, re-membering and speaking after the loss of a family member to suicide

Abstract

Disjunctions may arise after the loss of a friend or family member, especially after death through suicide. The first author (Rachael) calls on the words from bereaved people struggling to speak about such a loss. Their words resonate with her own lived experience of struggling to speak after the early ending of her father’s life through suicide.

Autoethnographies of three events (self-data) written in the first and third person opened up spaces for Rachael to trouble and break the silence that prevailed in the discursive context of her experience of loss. The authors draw on poststructuralist theory and practices of narrative therapy to reflect on and theorise the transformation that occurred as ways were found for Rachael to speak.

The autoethnographic narratives show how, by participating in a family “re-membering” conversation, Rachael and her siblings were able to honour their father in a way that sustained their hopes to speak together about their loss for the first time and story the subsequent reconnection of family members. This article potentially opens up spaces for further conversations about the possibilities and challenges of speaking about suicide loss.