The Personalization of Postmodern Post-mortem Rituals

Abstract

This article lays out the roots of the wish for personalized post-mortem rituals (funerals, memorial services, etc.) in postmodern culture and explains why many twentieth-century American, white Protestant funerals had become strikingly impersonal. It discusses the way in which the desire for personalized ritual is linked in American minds with the desire for “celebrative” ritual with an upbeat emotional tone. It describes ways to personalize traditional or nontraditional rituals and explores how personalization may make the rituals more able to meet some of the most important needs of grieving people.