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 34
Page 1
... psychologists providing more technical accounts of grief . This book not only draws from many of these studies but also seeks to extend them through an additional theory of death rites summarized in the phrase ' words against death ...
... psychologists providing more technical accounts of grief . This book not only draws from many of these studies but also seeks to extend them through an additional theory of death rites summarized in the phrase ' words against death ...
Page 3
... psychological comments on identity and death . Just as language is a major characteristic of the human species , so , we argue , it must be given its proper place in the dynamics of funerary rites , not only in coping with death but ...
... psychological comments on identity and death . Just as language is a major characteristic of the human species , so , we argue , it must be given its proper place in the dynamics of funerary rites , not only in coping with death but ...
Page 20
... Psychological explanations This anthropological perspective plays a much larger part in this book than do psychological ideas , even though later in the book we will consider psychological issues of attachment between people and the way ...
... Psychological explanations This anthropological perspective plays a much larger part in this book than do psychological ideas , even though later in the book we will consider psychological issues of attachment between people and the way ...
Page 21
... psychological life was concerned . Hope and survival Still , these psychological explanations of death rites do entertain hope as an important human attribute helping to drive communities forward by providing an optimism for life ...
... psychological life was concerned . Hope and survival Still , these psychological explanations of death rites do entertain hope as an important human attribute helping to drive communities forward by providing an optimism for life ...
Page 38
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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