Death, Grief and Poverty in Britain, 1870–1914Cambridge University Press, 2005 M07 25 - 294 pages With high mortality rates, it has been assumed that the poor in Victorian and Edwardian Britain did not mourn their dead. Contesting this approach, Julie-Marie Strange studies the expression of grief among the working class, demonstrating that poverty increased - rather than deadened - it. She illustrates the mourning practices of the working classes through chapters addressing care of the corpse, the funeral, the cemetery, commemoration, and high infant mortality rates. The book draws on a broad range of sources to analyse the feelings and behaviours of the labouring poor, using not only personal testimony but also fiction, journalism, and official reports. It concludes that poor people did not only use spoken or written words to express their grief, but also complex symbols, actions and, significantly, silence. This book will be an invaluable contribution to an important and neglected area of social and cultural history. |
From inside the book
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Page 5
... emotion- ally resonant forms'.17 In highlighting this new ' cultural pluralism ' , Laqueur possibly overplays his hand : the emphasis on change overlooks continuities in burial practice , not least the overwhelming tendency for most ...
... emotion- ally resonant forms'.17 In highlighting this new ' cultural pluralism ' , Laqueur possibly overplays his hand : the emphasis on change overlooks continuities in burial practice , not least the overwhelming tendency for most ...
Page 10
... emotional feelings . Where such details are 39 37 D. Cannadine , ' War and Death , Grief and Mourning in Modern Britain ' in J. Whaley ( ed . ) , Mirrors of Mortality : Studies in the Social History of Death ( London : Europa , 1981 ) ...
... emotional feelings . Where such details are 39 37 D. Cannadine , ' War and Death , Grief and Mourning in Modern Britain ' in J. Whaley ( ed . ) , Mirrors of Mortality : Studies in the Social History of Death ( London : Europa , 1981 ) ...
Page 11
... emotional containment . Limited vocabulary aside , the ' key factor ' in this culture of contain- ment , Vincent suggests , was the interaction between death and poverty . Clearly , material circumstances were integral to the manner in ...
... emotional containment . Limited vocabulary aside , the ' key factor ' in this culture of contain- ment , Vincent suggests , was the interaction between death and poverty . Clearly , material circumstances were integral to the manner in ...
Page 12
... emotion was mediated through a gendered identity, although this line of enquiry was not pursued in the essay. Similarly, his assertion that family experience differentiates 'otherwise homogeneous social, economic and occupational ...
... emotion was mediated through a gendered identity, although this line of enquiry was not pursued in the essay. Similarly, his assertion that family experience differentiates 'otherwise homogeneous social, economic and occupational ...
Page 14
... emotional underpinnings of family life. First, however, we must establish a chronology and outline some of the concepts, defini- tions and identities deployed throughout the book. Since the late nineteenth century, definitions of death ...
... emotional underpinnings of family life. First, however, we must establish a chronology and outline some of the concepts, defini- tions and identities deployed throughout the book. Since the late nineteenth century, definitions of death ...
Contents
1 | |
2 Life sickness and death | 27 |
3 Caring for the corpse | 66 |
4 The funeral | 98 |
reassessing the pauper burial | 131 |
the cemetery as a landscape for grief | 163 |
7 Loss memory and the management of feeling | 194 |
8 Grieving for dead children | 230 |
death grief and the Great War | 263 |
Bibliography | 274 |
Index | 290 |
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Common terms and phrases
Anfield Cemetery argued Asylum babies BALS ABZ belief bereaved body BOHT Bolton Bolton Burial Board burial ground burial insurance burial service burial space cadaver Cambridge Catholic cemetery child Childhood classes coffin commemoration common grave concerning context corpse culture of death customs Cwmardy D. H. Lawrence dead deceased died dying Edwardian emotional emphasised exhumation expression father funeral Gissing grave deeds grave owners grave space grief guardians Haslingden headstone highlights History Ibid identity implied infant interment Jalland Jones Lancashire Lancet Liverpool Daily Post living London loss LVRO 352 HEA Manchester Maud Pember Reeves memory mortality mother mourning neighbours noted notions OH Transcript Oxford parents parish pauper burial pauper grave perceived perceptions post-mortem poverty private grave public grave Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Reeves relatives represented respectability rites rituals sense sick significance social spiritual stillbirth story suggests Tape University Press Victorian whilst widow woman women workhouse working-class culture