The graveyards of old New England hold an incredible range of poetic messages in the epitaphs etched into the gravestones, each a profound expression of emotion, culture, religion, and literature. These epitaphs are old, but their themes are timeless: mourning and faith, grief and hope, loss, and memory. This book tells the story of a years-long walk among gravestones and shares insights gained along the way. It identifies the source texts and authors chosen for these stones; interprets something of the tastes and beliefs of the people who did the choosing; offers some hypotheses on the various ways these texts were accessible to readers in remote towns and villages; gives a brief summary of the religious context of the times; and reflects on how the language and literature chosen for these epitaphs express these peoples' conflicted and evolving attitudes towards life, death, and eternity.

This innovative volume examines the phenomenological, existential and cultural dimensions of grief experiences. It draws on perspectives from philosophy, psychology and sociocultural studies to focus on the experiential dimension of grief, moving beyond understanding from a purely mental health and psychiatry perspective. The book considers individual, shared and collective experiences of loss. Chapters explore the intersections between the profound existential experiences of bereavement and how this is mediated by sociocultural norms and practices. It points to new directions for the future conceptualization and study of grief, particularly in the experiential dimension. Drawing on a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, this important book will appeal to academics, researchers and students in the fields of death and bereavement studies, wellbeing and mental health, philosophy and phenomenological studies.

Taking a broad interpretation of "supernatural" to include anything beyond nature, Global Perspectives on the Liminality of the Supernatural examines the liminality of often-overlooked types of supernatural beings in light of the themes of death and gender. It gives the reader a tour of the continents and takes them out into space, looking at popular culture and mythologies to propose answers to fundamental anthropological questions about humanity, the concept of "dead," and how we relate to our own genders when using the supernatural to understand them.

Without exception, all people are faced with the inevitability of death, a stark fact that has immeasurably shaped societies and individual consciousness for the whole of human history. Mirrors of Passing offers a powerful window into this oldest of human preoccupations by investigating the interrelationships of death, materiality, and temporality across far-flung times and places. Stretching as far back as Ancient Egypt and Greece and moving through present-day locales as diverse as Western Europe, Central Asia, and the Arctic, each of the richly illustrated essays collected here draw on a range of disciplinary insights to explore some of the most fundamental, universal questions that confront us.

Without exception, all people are faced with the inevitability of death, a stark fact that has immeasurably shaped societies and individual consciousness for the whole of human history. Mirrors of Passing offers a powerful window into this oldest of human preoccupations by investigating the interrelationships of death, materiality, and temporality across far-flung times and places. Stretching as far back as Ancient Egypt and Greece and moving through present-day locales as diverse as Western Europe, Central Asia, and the Arctic, each of the richly illustrated essays collected here draw on a range of disciplinary insights to explore some of the most fundamental, universal questions that confront us.

Examines how digital media and the creation of digital immortals may affect religious understandings of death and the afterlife; Understands the impact of digital media on those living and those working with the bereaved; Explores the impact of digital memorialisation post death; Looks at the ways in which digital media may be changing conceptions and theologies of death

Examines how digital media and the creation of digital immortals may affect religious understandings of death and the afterlife; Understands the impact of digital media on those living and those working with the bereaved; Explores the impact of digital memorialisation post death; Looks at the ways in which digital media may be changing conceptions and theologies of death

What happens to us when we die? According to Christian faith, we will rise again bodily from the dead. This claim raises a series of philosophical and theological conundrums: is it rational to hope for life after death in bodily form? Will it truly be we who are raised again or will it be post-mortem duplicates of us? How can personal identity be secured? What is God's role in resurrection and everlasting life? In response to these conundrums, this book presents the first ever joint work of leading philosophers and theologians on life after death. This is an impressive demonstration of interdisciplinary cooperation between philosophy and theology. Various models are offered which depict what resurrection into an incorruptible post-mortem body might look like. Therefore this book is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the doctrine of bodily resurrection - be they philosophers, theologians, scholars in religious studies, or believers interested in examining their faith.

Studies representations of women and death by women to see whether and how they differ from patriarchal versions. In Western culture, women are often linked with death, perhaps because they are traditionally constructed as an unknowable "other." The first two Women and Death volumes investigate ideas about death and the feminine as represented in German culture since 1500, focusing, respectively, on the representation of women as victims and killers and the idea of the woman warrior, and confirming that women who kill or die violent or untimely deaths exercisefascination even as they pose a threat. The traditions of representation traced in the first two volumes, however, are largely patriarchal. What happens when it is women who produce the representations? Do they debunk or reject the dominant discourses of sexual fascination around women and death? Do they replace them with more sober or "realistic" representations, with new forms, modes, and language? Or do women writers and artists, inescapably bound up in patriarchal tradition, reproduce its paradigms? This third volume in the series investigates these questions in ten essays written by an international group of expert scholars. It will be of interest to scholars and students of German literature and culture, gender studies, and film studies. Contributors: Judith Aikin, Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Jill Bepler, Stephanie Bird, Abigail Dunn, Stephanie Hilger, Elisabeth Krimmer, Aine McMurtry, Simon Richter, Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly. Clare Bielby is Lecturer in German at the University of Hull. Anna Richards is Lecturer in German at Birkbeck College, University of London.

Exploring both the intrapersonal (moral) and interpersonal (ethical) nature of death and dying in the context of their development (philosophical), Dying in a Transhumanist and Posthuman Society shows how death and dying have been and will continue to be governed in any given society. Drawing on transhumanism and discourses about posthumanity, life prolongation and digital life, the book analyses death, dying and grief via the governance of dying. It states that the bio-medical dimensions of our understanding of death and dying have predominated not only the discourses about death in society and the care of the dying, but their policy and practice as well. It seeks to provoke thinking beyond the benefits of technology and within the confinements of the world transhumanists describe. This book is written for all who have an interest in thanatology (i.e. death studies) but will be useful specifically to those investigating the experiences of dying and grieving in contemporary societies, wherein technology, biology and medicine continuously advance. Thus, the manuscript will be of interest to researchers in a broad range of areas including health and social care, social policy, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, cultural studies, and, of course, thanatology.

Death studies is an established academic endeavour which is expanding globally into new disciplines Essential reference text for funerary activity in the region Standardised approach to structure and content ensures global coverage across the series

The Introduction chapter of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. With a focus on the case of Poland, where an ageing population poses a crucial challenge for the state's social, family, and gerontological policy, this book explores ageing as a personal and social phenomenon, considering the ways in which the experience of ageing is shaped by younger generations' attitudes, government support policies, local initiatives undertaken help older people stay active, and the ways in which the elderly themselves understand their own mortality. Employing demographic, philosophical, legal, psychological, gerontological perspectives, it emphasises activities that can support older adults locally or nationwide and proposes the development of a social policy and social attitudes that can facilitate changes in the social perception of ageing, together with a redistribution of resources for older adults. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in ageing and the lifecourse, as well as those who wish to support older adults with concrete solutions and familiarize themselves with the ageing process from an individual and social perspective.

* Draws on the experience of highly regarded interdisciplinary researchers from all over the world. * The first work to examine the relationship between the field of event studies and death studies, through empirical and conceptual research

Although much has been published on the social history of death, this is the first book to give a comprehensive account of attitudes toward the dead--above all the "placing" of the dead, in physical, spiritual and social terms--in order to reveal the social and religious outlook of past societies. The contributions range widely geographically, from Scotland to Transylvania, and address a spectrum of themes: attitudes toward the corpse, patterns of burial, forms of commemoration, the treatment of dead infants, the nature of the afterlife, and ghosts.

Political Theory on Death and Dying provides a comprehensive, encyclopedic review that compiles and curates the latest scholarship, research, and debates on the political and social implications of death and dying. Adopting an easy-to-follow chronological and multi-disciplinary approach on 45 canonical figures and thinkers, leading scholars from a diverse range of fields, including political science, philosophy, and English, discuss each thinker's ethical and philosophical accounts on mortality and death. Each chapter focuses on a single established figure in political philosophy, as well as religious and literary thinkers, covering classical to contemporary thought on death. Through this approach, the chapters are designed to stand alone, allowing the reader to study every entry in isolation and with greater depth, as well as trace how thinkers are influenced by their predecessors. A key contribution to the field, Political Theory on Death and Dying provides an excellent overview for students and researchers who study philosophy of death, the history of political thought, and political philosophy.

All of us who work in the field of death and dying are, beyond our projects and our practices, working on our awareness of our own mortality. This richly stimulating collection of original articles challenges the reader to develop a disciplined and focused awareness of his/her own mortality, and to grapple with the implications. "Awareness of Mortality" contributes to the basic and passionate intellectual quest for meaning in thanatology. It provokes the reader with a wide range of ideas and thinking styles to deepen the questioning process within his/her own self. "Awareness of Mortality" explores issues in philosophy, ethics, developmental psychology, psychoanalytic psychology, idealistic humanism, sociology, spiritual traditions, and other humanities that thanatology overlaps. "Awareness of Mortality" is an introduction to a broad-based philosophical thanatology.

In 1846, Edgar Allen Poe wrote that 'the death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetic topic in the world'. The conjuction of death, art and femininity forms a rich and disturbing strata of Western culture, explored here in fascinating detail by Elisabeth Bronfen. Her examples range from Carmen to Little Nell, from Wuthering Heights to Vertigo, from Snow White to Frankenstein. The text is richly illustrated throughout with thirty-seven paintings and photographs. -- .

Cross-cultural perspective on funerals that emphasizes why groups do what they do In all of our talk of diversity, this book discusses what unites humans in the way we honor death This book succinctly explains the economics of death ceremonies-and why they cost what they do

Cross-cultural perspective on funerals that emphasizes why groups do what they do In all of our talk of diversity, this book discusses what unites humans in the way we honor death This book succinctly explains the economics of death ceremonies-and why they cost what they do

Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society is the authoritative guide to the study of and work with major themes in bereavement. The classic edition includes a new preface from the lead editors discussing advances in the field since the book's initial publication. The book's chapters synthesize the best of research-based conceptualization and clinical wisdom across 30 of the most important topics in the field. The volume's contributors come from around the world, and their work reflects a level of cultural awareness of the diversity and universality of bereavement and its challenges that has rarely been approximated by other volumes. This is a readable, engaging, and comprehensive book that shares the most important scientific and applied work on the contemporary scene with a broad international audience. It's an essential addition to anyone with a serious interest in death, dying, and bereavement.

Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society is the authoritative guide to the study of and work with major themes in bereavement. The classic edition includes a new preface from the lead editors discussing advances in the field since the book's initial publication. The book's chapters synthesize the best of research-based conceptualization and clinical wisdom across 30 of the most important topics in the field. The volume's contributors come from around the world, and their work reflects a level of cultural awareness of the diversity and universality of bereavement and its challenges that has rarely been approximated by other volumes. This is a readable, engaging, and comprehensive book that shares the most important scientific and applied work on the contemporary scene with a broad international audience. It's an essential addition to anyone with a serious interest in death, dying, and bereavement.

This book provides detailed analysis of the manifold ways in which COVID-19 has influenced death, dying and bereavement.

Through three parts: Reconsidering Death and Grief in Covid-19; Institutional Care and Covid-19; and the Impact of COVID-19 in Context, the book explores COVID-19 as a reminder of our own and our communities’ fragile existence, but also the driving force for discovering new ways of meaning-making, performing rites and rituals, and conceptualising death, grief and life. Contributors include scholars, researchers, policymakers and practitioners, accumulating in a multi-disciplinary, diverse and international set of ideas and perspectives that will help the reader examine closely how Covid-19 has invaded social life and (re)shaped trauma and loss.

It will be of interest to all scholars and students of death studies, biomedicine, and end of life care as well as those working in sociology, social work, medicine, social policy, cultural studies, anthropology, psychology, counselling and nursing more broadly.

Table of Contents

List of figures

List of tables

Acknowledgements

List of abbreviations

Introduction: Capturing the beginning of a long journey of loss, trauma and grief Panagiotis Pentaris

PART 1: Reconsidering Death and Grief in Covid-19

Chapter 1. Familiarity with death

Panagiotis Pentaris and Kate Woodthorpe

Chapter 2: Grief in the COVID-19 pandemic

Kenneth Doka

Chapter 3: Apocalypse now: COVID-19 and the crisis of meaning

Robert Neimeyer, Evgenia Milman and Sherman Lee

Chapter 4: Physically distant but socially connected: Streaming funerals, memorials and ritual design during COVID-19

Stacey Pitsillides and Jayne Wallace

Chapter 5: Social death in 2020: Covid-19, which lives matter and which deaths count?

Jana Králová

PART 2: Institutional Care and Covid-19

Chapter 6: End-of-life decision-making in the context of a pandemic

Natalie Pattison and Lucy Ryan

Chapter 7: NHS Values, Ritual, Religion, and Covid-19 Death

Douglas Davies

Chapter 8: Non-COVID-19 related dying and death during the pandemic

Wai Yee Chee, Samuel Wang, Winnie Teo, Melissa Fong, Andy Lee and Woon Chai Yong

Chapter 9: Covid-19 and care home deaths and harms: A case study from the UK

Alisoun Milne

Chapter 10: Impact of Covid-19 on mental health and associated losses

Manju Shahul-Hameed, John Foster, Gina Finnerty and Panagiotis Pentaris

Chapter 11: Assisted dying and Covid-19

Theo Boer and Kevin Yuill

PART 3: Impact of COVID-19 in Context

Chapter 12: Losing touch? Older people and COVID-19

Renske Claasje Visser

Chapter 13: Between cultural necrophilia and African American activism: life and loss in the age of COVID

Kami Fletcher and Tamara Waraschinski

Chapter 14: The biopolitics and stigma of the HIV and Covid-19 Pandemics

Jason Schaub

Chapter 15: Suicide in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Mohammed Mamun and Jannatul Mawa Misti

Chapter 16: Death and dying during the COVD-19 pandemic: The Indian context

Apurva Kumar Pandya and Khyati Tripathi

This book explores the cultural meanings of the criminal body in the west through historical and multidisciplinary frameworks, examining both how the criminal corpse was viewed as a repository of power and how it held significant cultural meaning as material relic. Authors situate the criminal body at different historical junctures to examine ways in which the criminal corpse was displayed and managed for social, political, magical and medicinal powers and purposes. They explain how this legacy persists in significant ways in the contemporary west, primarily through the commodification of criminal bodies in popular and public displays. The role of notorious criminal bodies in contemporary culture also reverberates in political and scientific realms in which criminal bodies often carry symbolic meanings related to ambivalence over interpretations of death. Drawing on examples from history as well as more contemporary criminal bodies, the book will be of interest to those studying death and criminology, and show how the criminal body can retain an iconic status in the collective memory of the living. This book was originally published as a special issue of Mortality.