Paper short abstract:

Death rituals start before the funeral. This paper focuses on the folklore traditions of attending the corpse immediately after death, and transporting it for burial. I discuss the certainty ascribed to these rituals, the evidence for them, and how they manifest themselves in the present landscape.

Paper long abstract:

The physical transportation of a corpse from the place of death to its place of interment is not normally considered part of the formal rituals of valediction or funerary formalities in Christian societies, or accorded the same status thereof. There are, however, various aspects of folklore, formalism and tradition associated with this “pre-funerary” phase of the corpse’s journey. In early modern Britain, “corpse roads” linking rural settlements to burial churches, along which funerary parties travelled either by cart or (more usually) on foot were documented by the British Ordnance Survey as late as the nineteenth century. Some such routes, especially in rural northern and southwestern areas of England, became very well-known as corpse roads to local communities. Further, folk literary traditions such as the “Lyke Wake Dirge” documented by John Aubrey (1626-1697) and Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) provide folk descriptions of both the metaphorical and the physical journeys the corpse must take to its final rest (the “Whinny-Moor” of the title appears in this ballad). This paper reviews the physical, archival, cartographic and literary evidence for “corpse roads” and associated folklore, and considers the following questions: given the physical difficulties which often attended the process, what certainty did rituals associated with the transportation of a corpse provide to mourners and communities? Given the relative scarcity of evidence, how can we compare the study of pre-funerary rituals and processes with more formal, funereal, settings? And most importantly, how did, and do, these rituals appear as heritage in the contemporary landscape?

Paper short abstract:

Sweden kept neutral during WWII, but merchant sailors yet lived a perilous life. When a mine barrage was laid out in the Skagerack in 1940, many Swedish sailors couldn’t return. In my paper I discuss the funerary rituals practiced by Swedish sailors abroad during WWII, as described in death notices.

Paper long abstract:

Sweden famously held a neutral stance during WWII, but merchant sailors at sea were still affected by military action. In 1940, Germany placed a mine barrage in the Skagerack, inhibiting Swedes at sea to return home. In addition to the perils of war, the working environment for a sailor was already dangerous, with frequent accidents as well as attacks. In this paper I discuss the practices performed at the funerals of Swedish sailors during WWII, as described in notices of death published in Ute och Hemma (Home and Away) – a periodical aimed towards Swedes abroad as well as their loved ones back at home.

The familiar played an important part in the notices of death. The meaning of Sweden, and being Swedish, became central. At the same time, the community and comradery created at sea between sailors of different nationalities was frequently expressed as well. In the notices of death – often written by the priest who conducted the funeral, and implicitly aimed towards the loved ones at home – the meaning of the substitute becomes apparent. Comrades and colleagues attend the funeral in lieu of family. They wanted to honor a fellow sailor, if they actually knew the deceased was of secondary importance. Sailors from other vessels attended funeral ceremonies for seamen, their presence both substituted the ones at home, and honored the solidarity of the community. These texts hence set out to reassure the family that the sailor wasn’t alone, neither in life nor in death.

Paper short abstract:

I will try to show the development and status of the idea and practice of cremation in countries which found themselves behind the Iron Curtain after the Second World War. Did modern cremation serve in the interest of socialist social order and communist ideology, and if so, in what way?

Paper long abstract:

The idea of modern cremation was much more than a notion of a more hygienic, ecological and aesthetically acceptable method for the disposal of human remains. From its inception at the end of the 18th century, all the way into the second half of the 20th century, it was tied to various political, national and cultural ideologies, with the common factor throughout being anticlericalism and secularization. In this presentation, I will try to show the development and status of the idea and practice of cremation in countries which found themselves behind the Iron Curtain after the Second World War. Did modern cremation serve in the interest of socialist social order and communist ideology, and if so, in what way? What was the fate of the idea in relation to the specificities of different communist regimes and what factors effected its adoption or rejection?

Paper short abstract:

The ideological changes that followed the post-WWII political changes resulted in the reform of Czechoslovak funeral practices. The presentation stresses the importance of cremation and committees for civil issues in the propagation of secular (socialist) funeral ceremonies in Czechoslovakia.

Paper long abstract:

The Communist era in Czechoslovakia (1948-1989) was characterised by a huge expansion in the popularity of cremation and a significant increase in the proportion of secular funerals. By the end of the 1980s, more than half of the dead were being cremated, and three-fifths of funerals were civil ceremonies. The presentation shows how cremation spread from 1950 onwards hand-in-hand with the new socialist version of the civil funeral ceremony. The author stresses the role of ideology as well as so-called committees for civil issues in the funeral reform process. Three data sources were used: statistics on cremation; in-depth interviews with funeral professionals and former members of committees for civil issues who conducted funerals in the time period under study, and handbooks produced for funeral organisers and civil funeral orators concerning the funeral speech and acceptable forms of the civil (socialist) funeral ceremony. The author argues that the widespread use of cremation helped to disseminate new secular forms of the funeral ceremony hand-in-hand with the work of the committees for civil issues that created them, and played a key role in establishing the prominent position of civil funerals in today’s Czech Republic. The significant differences in terms of the success of efforts towards funeral reform between the various countries of the former Eastern bloc were due principally to their differing cultural histories and attitudes towards both religion and cremation, and the availability of the infrastructure required for conducting civil funerals.

Paper short abstract:

The lecture will focus on the phenomenon of mocking death in the context of Mexican Day of the Dead feast. I will draw on long-term ethnographic research I've been doing in Mexico City since 2014, focusing on the ways in which emotional aspects of commemoration are influenced by cultural norms.

Paper long abstract:

The Day of the Dead is considered to be the most important ritual of commemoration in most of Mexico nowadays. Although the main purpose of the holiday is to remember deceased, its festive aspect also come to the fore, especially in the cities. The festive aspect is also characterized by unique symbolism including portraying of skulls and skeletons in a humorous and satirical context. The satirized death is therefore seen as a Mexican cultural specificity and as a product of cultural nationalism. However, mocking death can also be seen as a coping mechanism for death anxiety. In this lecture, I will focus on the phenomenon of mocking death as a coping mechanism in my research partners' lives and the ways in which emotional aspects of commemoration are influenced by cultural norms. I will draw on long-term ethnographic research I've been doing in Mexico City since 2014. The advantages of repeated engagement with my research partners allowed me to observe the influence of cultural narratives on the process of coping with death and the use of mocking death which lead me to the conclusions I would like to present in the lecture.