Death, Ritual, and Belief: The Rhetoric of Funerary RitesBloomsbury Publishing, 2002 M06 1 - 272 pages Describing a great variety of funeral ritual from major world religions and from local traditions, this book shows how cultures not only cope with corpses but also create an added value for living through the encouragement of afterlife beliefs. The explosion of interest in death in recent years reflects the key theme of this book - the rhetoric of death - the way cultures use the most potent weapon of words to bring new power to life. This new edition is one third longer than the original with new material on the death of Jesus, the most theorized death ever which offers a useful case study for students. There is also empirical material from contemporary/recent events such as the death of Diana and an expanded section on theories of grief which will make the book more attractive to death counsellors. |
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Page 7
... burial was an early human activity , and certainly the historic religions have given much attention to the ritual disposal of the dead . Though Laughlin and McManus emphasize the speculative nature of their suggestion , they would not ...
... burial was an early human activity , and certainly the historic religions have given much attention to the ritual disposal of the dead . Though Laughlin and McManus emphasize the speculative nature of their suggestion , they would not ...
Page 8
... burial , even though it follows the lowering of the coffin into the grave . In cremation services the words ' we commit his body to be consumed by fire ' are , similarly , usually accompanied by the removal of the coffin or the drawing ...
... burial , even though it follows the lowering of the coffin into the grave . In cremation services the words ' we commit his body to be consumed by fire ' are , similarly , usually accompanied by the removal of the coffin or the drawing ...
Page 14
... burial rites were still both dominant and often elaborate , not least in France where , for example , in the mid - nineteenth century there were at least ten types of horse - drawn hearses available in Paris , depending upon cost ...
... burial rites were still both dominant and often elaborate , not least in France where , for example , in the mid - nineteenth century there were at least ten types of horse - drawn hearses available in Paris , depending upon cost ...
Page 20
... burial in Chapters 4 and 6. This reflects something of that tremendous dynamism , inherent in human nature , which drives social groups forward with a sense of real optimism and possibility . It is worth emphasizing Bloch's idea because ...
... burial in Chapters 4 and 6. This reflects something of that tremendous dynamism , inherent in human nature , which drives social groups forward with a sense of real optimism and possibility . It is worth emphasizing Bloch's idea because ...
Page 24
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Contents
1 | |
Impurity Fertility and Fear | 24 |
3 Theories of Grief | 43 |
4 Violence Sacrifice and Conquest | 62 |
5 Eastern Destiny and Death | 81 |
6 Ancestors Cemeteries and Local Identity | 91 |
7 Jewish and Islamic Destinies | 118 |
8 Christianity and the Death of Jesus | 125 |
10 Somewhere to Die | 155 |
11 Souls and the Presence of the Dead | 163 |
12 Pet and Animal Death | 182 |
13 Book Film and Building | 196 |
14 Offending Death Grief and Religions | 211 |
15 Secular Death and Life | 224 |
Bibliography | 240 |
Index | 258 |
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Common terms and phrases
afterlife amongst ancestors animals anthropologist argued ashes aspects associated become belief bereavement Bloch body Britain British British Humanist Association Buddhism burial buried cemeteries cent Chapter Christian church concerned contemporary context corpse cremated remains crematoria cultures D. J. Davies death rites deceased described dying emotion emphasize especially euthanasia example existence express fact fact of death focused funeral rites funerary rites grave grief groups human idea identity important increasingly individual interpreted involved issue Jesus kind living major memory modern Mormon mortuary mummification nature near-death experience offending death particular performative utterance period pet death popular post-modernity practice psychological realm rebounding violence reflects reincarnation relationship relatively religion religious response resurrection rhetoric ritual sacrifice salvation secular sense shamanism significance social society sociological soul speak spiritual status stress stupa symbolic theological theory tomb traditional transcendence twentieth century words against death Zoroastrians