| The Secret Cemetery Contributor(s): Francis, Doris (Author), Kellaher, Leonie (Author), Neophytou, Georgina (Author) |
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ISBN: 1859735975 ISBN-13: 9781859735978 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $43.65 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2005 Annotation: Burial sites have long been recognized as windows onto past civilizations, yet the meanings of present day cemeteries have been virtually ignored, even though they can reveal much about ourselves. Through the process of choosing a memorial stone, inscribing it, and tending the grave garden, visitors fashion a dynamic personal landscape of memory and mourning. The contemporary cemetery is also a place where new immigrant communities can reinforce group boundaries and establish a sense of homeland. Exploring the memorial practices of people from Greek Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Roman Catholic and Anglican faiths, as well as the "unchurched," this book shows how the material artifacts of mourning express sentiments that are shared, understood, and validated by members of the secret cemetery community. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Anthropology - General - Religion | Comparative Religion - Science | Environmental Science (see Also Chemistry - Environmental) |
| Dewey: 363.75 |
| LCCN: 2005002341 |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 6.82" W x 9.6" (1.25 lbs) 320 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Burial sites have long been recognized as a way to understand past civilizations. Yet, the meanings of our present day cemeteries have been virtually ignored, even though they reveal much about our cultures. Exploring an extraordinarily diverse range of memorial practice - Greek Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Roman Catholic and Anglican, as well as the unchurched - The Secret Cemetery is an intriguing study of what these places of death mean to the living. Most of us experience cemeteries at a ritualized moment of loss. What we forget is that these are often places to which we return either as a general space in which to contemplate or as a specific site to be tended. These are also places where different communities can reinforce boundaries and even recreate a sense of homeland. Over time, ritual, artefact and place shape an intensely personal landscape of memory and mourning, a landscape more alive, more actively engaged with than many of the other places we inhabit. |
Contributor Bio(s): Francis, Doris: - Doris Francis is Research Associate, Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Kellaher, Leonie: - Leonie Kellaher is Principal Research Officer and Director of the Centre for Environmental and Social Studies in Ageing, University of North London and Senior Lecturer, University of North London. |