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 55
Page 7
... speak of death rites as ' words against death ' . In symbolic terms words represent the ongoing and positive nature of human identity , and of society as the cradle of identity , while corpses represent the negative domain of physical ...
... speak of death rites as ' words against death ' . In symbolic terms words represent the ongoing and positive nature of human identity , and of society as the cradle of identity , while corpses represent the negative domain of physical ...
Page 9
... speak to someone who has been bereaved . We should not assume that this is true for other contexts , nor indeed for much of human history , nor even that it is increasingly inevitable in a secular world . As we will see , other words ...
... speak to someone who has been bereaved . We should not assume that this is true for other contexts , nor indeed for much of human history , nor even that it is increasingly inevitable in a secular world . As we will see , other words ...
Page 10
... the other would lie a much more metaphorical way of speaking about the ' social body ' or ' society ' studied by sociologists . The social body represents men and women , boys and girls , all together as 10 Death , Ritual and Belief.
... the other would lie a much more metaphorical way of speaking about the ' social body ' or ' society ' studied by sociologists . The social body represents men and women , boys and girls , all together as 10 Death , Ritual and Belief.
Page 12
... speak of the death of a microcosm . It is as though society is challenged when one of its ' expressions ' within an individual dies . So , for example , parenthood is challenged when a child dies , or friendship with the death of a good ...
... speak of the death of a microcosm . It is as though society is challenged when one of its ' expressions ' within an individual dies . So , for example , parenthood is challenged when a child dies , or friendship with the death of a good ...
Page 13
... speak only of roles or role - models when dealing with the depths of human life and relationships . This is an important point which can easily be ignored by people unfamiliar with the social sciences , especially since the term ' role ...
... speak only of roles or role - models when dealing with the depths of human life and relationships . This is an important point which can easily be ignored by people unfamiliar with the social sciences , especially since the term ' role ...
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