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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 24
Page 4
... emphasized human awareness but also saw death rites as a ' defence of society against untamed nature ' , and concluded that ' the ritualization of death is a special aspect of the total strategy of man against nature ' ( 1991 : 603 ...
... emphasized human awareness but also saw death rites as a ' defence of society against untamed nature ' , and concluded that ' the ritualization of death is a special aspect of the total strategy of man against nature ' ( 1991 : 603 ...
Page 5
... emphasizing the continuity of identity through heirs and successors . This is an important point because I do not wish to argue that some fear of death inevitably pushed humanity into generating a belief in an immortal soul . While it ...
... emphasizing the continuity of identity through heirs and successors . This is an important point because I do not wish to argue that some fear of death inevitably pushed humanity into generating a belief in an immortal soul . While it ...
Page 7
... emphasize the speculative nature of their suggestion , they would not be surprised if ritual activity had arisen very early amongst pre - human hominids who had developed brains enabling them to picture issues beyond their immediate ...
... emphasize the speculative nature of their suggestion , they would not be surprised if ritual activity had arisen very early amongst pre - human hominids who had developed brains enabling them to picture issues beyond their immediate ...
Page 8
... emphasizing human belief in the triumph of humanity over death and in asserting the plausibility of existence . Performative utterances Language influences human beings to a dramatic extent , not only helping to structure thought , but ...
... emphasizing human belief in the triumph of humanity over death and in asserting the plausibility of existence . Performative utterances Language influences human beings to a dramatic extent , not only helping to structure thought , but ...
Page 9
... emphasizing because of the contemporary British trend of down - playing words in an attempt to stress behavioural aspects of life . Some individuals emphasize the importance of simply being with the bereaved , giving physical comfort ...
... emphasizing because of the contemporary British trend of down - playing words in an attempt to stress behavioural aspects of life . Some individuals emphasize the importance of simply being with the bereaved , giving physical comfort ...
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