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 87
Page viii
... human mortality in previous generations . Political concerns related to aspects of religious fundamentalism now compete with liberal engagements with ecology and human well - being in the broadest of senses . In the light of such a ...
... human mortality in previous generations . Political concerns related to aspects of religious fundamentalism now compete with liberal engagements with ecology and human well - being in the broadest of senses . In the light of such a ...
Page 1
... human adaptive response to death , with ritual language singled out as its crucial form of response . It is precisely because language is the very medium through which human beings obtain their sense of self- consciousness that it can ...
... human adaptive response to death , with ritual language singled out as its crucial form of response . It is precisely because language is the very medium through which human beings obtain their sense of self- consciousness that it can ...
Page 2
... human beings are transformed in ways which make them better adapted for their own and for their society's survival in the world . These assumptions constitute the speculative theory underlying this book , and in subsequent chapters they ...
... human beings are transformed in ways which make them better adapted for their own and for their society's survival in the world . These assumptions constitute the speculative theory underlying this book , and in subsequent chapters they ...
Page 3
... human ritual response to the perception of mortality it will take us beyond the superficial . Rites of destiny The great majority of cultures not only talk of a destiny beyond that of a single lifetime but also provide funerary ritual ...
... human ritual response to the perception of mortality it will take us beyond the superficial . Rites of destiny The great majority of cultures not only talk of a destiny beyond that of a single lifetime but also provide funerary ritual ...
Page 4
... human cultures assert the ongoing power of human existence despite death's ravages . In particular we will see how death rites influence and change human identity as that self - consciousness , challenged by mortality , responds in its ...
... human cultures assert the ongoing power of human existence despite death's ravages . In particular we will see how death rites influence and change human identity as that self - consciousness , challenged by mortality , responds in its ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
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