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
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Page vii
... stress on ' words against death ' expressed through a great variety of human responses to death , whether in ritual , belief , art or architecture . Introduction Since the first edition of this book was published vii Preface to Second ...
... stress on ' words against death ' expressed through a great variety of human responses to death , whether in ritual , belief , art or architecture . Introduction Since the first edition of this book was published vii Preface to Second ...
Page viii
... stress that the following chapters only touch tips of numerous icebergs , and much could be said on each . Above all it is important to appreciate just how much research remains to be done on many of the topics we raise . It is a ...
... stress that the following chapters only touch tips of numerous icebergs , and much could be said on each . Above all it is important to appreciate just how much research remains to be done on many of the topics we raise . It is a ...
Page 7
... stressed the importance of emotional aspects of behaviour within the overall drive for meaning expressed as salvation ( D. J. Davies , 1984 ) . Though the following chapters do not deal with such religious themes as salvation they are ...
... stressed the importance of emotional aspects of behaviour within the overall drive for meaning expressed as salvation ( D. J. Davies , 1984 ) . Though the following chapters do not deal with such religious themes as salvation they are ...
Page 9
... stress behavioural aspects of life . Some individuals emphasize the importance of simply being with the bereaved , giving physical comfort through touch or by hugging them , rather than place much significance upon words . Part of the ...
... stress behavioural aspects of life . Some individuals emphasize the importance of simply being with the bereaved , giving physical comfort through touch or by hugging them , rather than place much significance upon words . Part of the ...
Page 10
... stress of death , helps re - form social networks broken by the loss of a group member , and confers new identity on those passing from the land of the living into a new community of ancestors , saints or memory . Such mortuary ritual ...
... stress of death , helps re - form social networks broken by the loss of a group member , and confers new identity on those passing from the land of the living into a new community of ancestors , saints or memory . Such mortuary ritual ...
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