Funeral Research Articles

Death and mourning in times of COVID-19. The experience of Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa

The paper deals with the effects of the regulations and restrictions on the handling of corpses and funerals among Zimbabwean migrant families who lost relatives in South Africa during the COVID-19 epidemic in the years 2020 and 2021. Interviews were conducted with members of this migrant community. The interviews revealed a range of affective and material dimensions entangled in these multiple losses, highlighting therefore experiences of truncated grief. Restrictions on funerals and burials forced immobility on the living and their dead; on bereaved communities, themselves and their corpses are forms of biopower that multiplied losses among cross-border migrant communities. The loss of autonomy of communities around death rituals and burial places constitute realms where the materiality of death is revealed. I look at both the loss of human life and the emotional losses associated with the limitations imposed on the dead body under COVID-19.

The Life + Death Education Framework: Proposition of a 'Universal' Framework for Implementation.

Life and death education is a distinct field of study that has potential life relevance for consideration (e.g., self-awareness and subsequent improvement of one's own health well-being). Existing research development, situating in different learning-sociocultural contexts, has provided consistent evidence that showcases the differing viewpoints of life functioning (e.g., what is the true meaning of life?) and the intricate nature of death and dying (e.g., a death ritual that closely associates with a particular cultural group). Some of the research studies undertaken indicate the effective use of 'philosophization' or the discourse of philosophical analysis, enabling individuals to philosophize, contemplate, and seek transpersonal understanding of the subject matters of life and death (e.g., can a state of 'spiritual transcendence' help to alleviate a person's fear of death?). Such discourse, interestingly, has offered some informative yields for enriching and meaningful life purposes - for example, the seeking to attain transpersonal understanding of life (e.g., what does a state of self-transcendence actually mean?) and/or transpersonal life experience may assist a senior citizen to cope with his mental health during a temporary health crisis. Our teaching and research interest of life and death education over the past decade has led us to consider one important line of inquiry for development: namely, the proposition of a 'universal' blueprint or framework of life and death education for curriculum development, teaching, and research purposes. We are cognizant of the fact that, to date, there is no clear consensus or agreement as to what one is expected (e.g., specific learning outcome) to teach students who wish to study and learn about life and death education. On this basis, the present theoretical article introduces a theoretical framework, termed as 'The Life + Death Education Framework' (e.g., for universities), to assist educators for their quality teaching and/or research inquiries of life and death education. We firmly believe that the Life + Death Education Framework can be universal and, in this case, apply to different learning-sociocultural contexts.

Funeral services, interaction with grieving clients, and human-animal bond in animals’ Heaven Cemetery, Romania: an exploratory qualitative analysis

ABSTRACT This study explores the significance of funeral services for animal companions, focusing on grieving clients and the human-animal bond. Reflections of employees at the Animals’ Heaven Cemetery (Cimitirul Raiul Animalelor in Romanian) on the motivations, emotions, and reactions of clients who used the cemetery’s post-mortem animal care services are examined. Findings revealed differing responses from owners, ranging from open expression of emotions to silence; acceptance of loss, desiring to honor their animals’ existence with a final gesture even posthumously. Participants also reported occasional situations arising from distance or situational challenges when clients offer no assistance in their animals’ burial or cremation. The results suggest the necessity of formal qualifications in therapy, psychotherapy, psychology, or a related profession to enhance funeral service providers’ ability to communicate with grieving clients. The concept of an animal companion cemetery as a park, perceived as “a place of hope” and “a spiritual place” is suggested.

The current rituality of catholic death in Catalonia, a world of meanings

This article sheds light on the current Catholic experience of mourning and death in Catalonia by means of theoretical-interpretative contributions from the field of rituality and the sensitive dimension. It focuses on a method of analysis that emphasizes the deep meanings and sensory dimension of the logic of the death ritual itself. Using multiple narratives and autoethnography, it describes the sequence of actions and sensations related to the drama experienced and channels the pain that is progressively expressed in the different phases of the ritual. The effectiveness of the ritual lies in the experience of non-presence, remoteness or emptiness. Even though the perspectives of the participants are different and there are a variety of family situations, the symbolic and sensitive dimension of the ritual works for everyone by sequencing their actions and experiences throughout the process.

Beyond pain and sorrow: Dysphemistic use in wartime funeral cards

As little attention has been paid to dysphemism in death-related discourse, the goal of this study is to analyze the dysphemistic language in a sample of funeral cards, i.e., personalized keepsakes distributed at memorial or funeral services, of Nationalist Spaniards, including both combatants and civilians, who were killed in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and, by doing so, have access to the motivations and purposes underlying dysphemistic use in wartime funeral cards. The inductive, “bottom-up” analysis carried out demonstrates that dysphemism is used to express a negative evaluation of the political enemy through intense and emotionally charged language that refers to the cause and circumstances of the death, on the one hand, and to those responsible for the death, on the other. In this way, dysphemism creates a narrative atmosphere charged with contempt and hatred toward the political enemy and thus becomes a strategic tool of ideological propaganda.

Psychological Healing process of Grief Resolution: Nepali (Hindu) Cultural Perspective

Grief is a natural reaction to the loss; mainly due to the death of a loved one. Sometimes, such reactions may be problematic or complicated. Culture serves as a buffer to deal with such losses, and supports the mature way of coping. Nepali cultural practices or the death rituals favor the restoration-oriented grieving process and are prophylactic approach in order to prevent any form of grief-related psychological reactions. This paper provides a narrative approach in which the writer shares his experiences as a Psychiatrist in dealing with grief-related problems of the clients in his own clinical practice. In addition, he also shares his own personal experience of losing his father and illustrates how the traditional practices followed by himself and his family during that time facilitated the grief-resolution process. He is very much convinced that the Nepali cultural approach during death rituals is very much scientific and psychotherapeutic.

Nilai Moderasi Beragama Pada Tradisi Upacara Kremasi Jenazah Di Desa Rama Agung

The aim of this service is to strengthen the attitude of religious moderation by understanding and practicing the value of moderation in Rama Agung Village. It is hoped that this can make a positive contribution to the development of attitudes of tolerance and harmony in society. This research describes a series of procedures from the beginning to the end of cremation in Lama Agung village. Apart from that, this research also examines how the value of religious moderation is applied in a very harmonious and mutually supportive society. This research aims to provide a deeper understanding of the application of facilitation in the context of community diversity and harmony in the village by explaining the details of the cremation process and social interactions that occurred while I was here. The qualitative approach of this research is to collect primary data through interviews with Hindu traditional leaders who are directly involved in the implementation of the Ngaben ceremony. This method helps us to understand more comprehensively the aspects of ritual and religious facilitation in Rama Agung village. The results of this research show that the cremation death ritual includes several stages, namely preparation of offerings and equipment, handover of the body, implementation of the cremation ceremony, and reading of praise songs. Collection and disposal of ashes, closing of the event and evening prayer at Mentebengan.

Death rituals and quality of life of bereaved relatives during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results of the observational CO-LIVE study

Grief is a normal reaction after the death of a loved one. Death rituals are an integral part of the mourning processes. Not being able to carry out death rituals can affect relatives’ quality of life. The aim was to evaluate death rituals during COVID-19 and their association with relatives’ quality of life. In a Swedish nation-wide study relatives to persons who died during the COVID-19-pandemic received questionnaires about their quality of life and how they could perform death rituals. Association between quality of life and death rituals was analyzed with linear regression. Of the 324 relatives, a minority indicated that their loved one’s funeral (17%) met their wishes. Not being able to carry out the funeral as desired was significantly associated with a lower quality of life (p = 0.006). The experiences during the pandemic revealed that it is important for people to perform death rituals according to their wishes.

Studi Banding Pola Gerak Tari Kataga dengan Seni Gambar Cadas di Situs Tron Bon Lei, Alor, Nusa Tenggara Timur (Tinjauan Etno Arkeologi)

The rock art of the Tron Bon Lei Site, Alor, East Nusa Tenggara has unique form because it is depicted in anthropomorphic figures. The figure is depicted in a certain movement pose and has attributes in the form of traditional clothing and weapons. Kataga dance is a traditional dance that was previously performed in death rituals after war in Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. This article discusses the form of the anthropomorphic figures of the Tron Bon Lei Site Rock Art and the Kataga Traditional Dance forms with the aim of seeing the similarities and differences between the two objects in relation to the meaning of the rock art. This research was conducted using a qualitative method, namely a descriptive analytical approach. Data collection was carried out using field surveys and literature studies. The results of the research show that there are similarities between the rock art form and the Kataga Dance form. The similarities are in the movement poses, attributes and dance formations. It is hoped that this article can provide a new perspective in interpreting rock art, by looking at similar forms in contextual situation.

Contextual Representation of Mourning Rituals: A Case Study of Rural Punjab (Pakistan)

This study is conducted to explore the mourning rituals performed in the rural area of Punjab Pakistan. Specifically, the research focusses on the dynamics between culture and death rituals signified through different religio-cultural practices. The qualitative methods are used employing ethnographic research design. To analyze the data, the thematic analysis technique is used. The study found that the people in rural areas of Punjab perform different rituals on death to show their emotions and intensity of grief. The results show that people in this area practice rituals following their religious and cultural beliefs to please the soul of the deceased as well as to show their reaction towards grief. The findings of this study reveal that wailing, crying, cutting one's body and burning the stick of sage are a few of the mourning rituals that are commonly prevalent in rural Punjab to express grief. Moreover, different folklores are also sung to dialogue the departed soul with other community members and God, which is a great source of attention seeking for showing massive grief. Nature of death and economic disparity is also played a major role while expressing the grief. Generally, the bereaved families use such rituals to get an escape from the grief. To sum up the study found that the death rituals to express and share individuals’ grief are decline in the culture of rural Punjab.

Framing memories of the dead: the rhetorical work of the memory picture in the deathcare industry

ABSTRACT Rhetorical studies of public memory explore the ways in which memory is made material and how those means condition our own embodiment of memory. One space for this type of rhetorical memory work featured in this essay is the encounter with the corpse during funeral services. While research on funeral rhetoric has been foundational to our understanding of memory and epideixis, we focus on the embodied rhetorics that support and sustain the values we have toward the deceased in the processes of encountering them. We share interviews with deathcare workers and a rhetorical ethnography of the deathcare industry to elaborate on the figurative work and backstage processes that make memorializing the dead possible. We contend that “memory pictures” can be understood as material instantiations of memory that shape the processes of encountering and remembering the dead. This article details phases of encountering the recently deceased body and how the deceased body is made into a corpse to remember and mourn. The phases and technical processes of working with corpses are bluntly described with details about preparing, embalming, and displaying dead bodies. The straightforward and sometimes graphic description of these phases and processes may be disturbing or upsetting for readers.

Exploring Funeral Directors' Experience and Perceived Impact of Providing Funeral Services During COVID-19 Restrictions.

The importance of ritual/ceremony following bereavement is well documented, however restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the freedom to bury loved ones according to beliefs/traditions. This study explores the experiences of staff providing funeral services during COVID-19 and considers the implications for supporting bereaved families. Fifty-eight staff (male, 72.4%; n = 42) from 17 counties in Ireland, completed a self-report survey assessing perceived impact of COVID-19, confidence providing services, and challenges and supports for practice during this time. Quantitative findings suggest moderate confidence in service provision and low perception of negative impact from COVID-19, while qualitative results highlight a contrast between a feeling of under-recognition at a policy level and a sense of being appreciated by the public. This study highlights the evolving role of the funeral sector in Ireland in supporting the bereaved, and the potential to capitalise on a genuine interest in contributing more to support beyond the funeral.

Death in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Selected Communities in Itogon, Benguet

Health protocols during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic have affected indigenous communities in various ways, including the inability to perform burial rituals. Understanding how the imposed health policies challenged cultural expressions and uncovering the issues arising in the implementation can raise awareness among stake holders. It also advocates for future pandemic plans to consider the expectations and cultural nuances of all stakeholders in the design of preventive strategies. This study investigated how indigenous communities in Itogon, Benguet responded to the health protocols declared by the government vis-à-vis their death worldview and rituals. Employing a qualitative approach, findings showed that the indigenous communities believe that death is not the end of life but merely a transition to the next life, in this transition, rituals are needed to be performed. It ensures that the spirit reaches the spiritual world. The imposed protocols had significantly challenged the performance of long-held rituals as it was halted. During those times, the communities showed “cultural resiliency” as they negotiated with the protocols, some had asserted, modified and changed the ritual. Keywords : Burial Rituals, COVID-19, Death Worldview, Indigenous Peoples, Itogon

«Требник атеиста»: теория и практика гражданской обрядности в СССР

The article is devoted to the analysis of the book “Socialist Rituals”. Kyiv. 1985, which outlines the theory and practice of civil rituals in the late USSR. This manual may well be called an “Аn atheistic breviary”, designed to replace the church breviary. The work shows the artificiality and lifelessness of Soviet civil rituals, considered by its creators primarily as an element of persecution of the Russian OrthodoX Church. The inability of Soviet civil rituals to satisfy human spiritual needs has been proven. The main, unsolved task of the creators of non-religious civil rituals was to find means of persuasion and evidence of its effectiveness. The article shows how, in order to impart a certain “spirituality” to civil rites, the authors of the manual consciously or unconsciously use the method of mental associations. New Soviet rituals are analyzed — “rites of the calendar cycle”, “solemn registration of marriage”, “solemn registration of a newborn”, “civil funeral services”.

Inhumation as Theophanic Encounter: The Eastern Orthodox Rejection of Cremation

Abstract This essay aims to articulate why the Orthodox have historically, and to the present, opposed cremation. Its primary line of argument is that inhumation is a site of “theophanic encounter”: a manifestation of the Glory of God. This theophanic quality is borne out in the scriptures and the Church’s liturgical experience. In particular, the connections between the funeral service and the entombed Christ on Holy Friday and Saturday properly situate the meaning of the post-mortem body. This intimate connection between the deceased and their body is clear in Orthodoxy’s “hylomorphism,” the soul-body unity, which champions the eschatology of resurrection. Finally, all of the above is concretely experienced in the cult of the saints and their relics, which become vehicles for the divine energies: a theophany of Christ’s ongoing conquest of sin and death. Thus, cremation can only be viewed as a tragic misunderstanding of the dual meaning of “doxa” in Orthodoxy: right-belief and right-glory.

Walking the Whinny-Moor: Corpse roads and pre-funeral death rituals in early modern England

Walking the Whinny-Moor: Corpse roads and pre-funeral death rituals in early modern England

Vernacular Catholicism in Ireland: The Keening Woman

The relationship between popular vernacular Catholicism and the more official liturgical variety has varied over centuries. Following the subjugation of Ireland by the late 17th century, and the institution of anti-Catholic proscriptions, the number of priests available became more restricted. Religious observation subsequently centered on holy days and local sacred sites including healing wells, many of them dedicated to saints. Always central figures in death rituals, women who mourned the dead—“keening women”—were so called because they lamented the dead through a combination of voice and song. We will show how the songs relate to a deep liminal spirituality that existed semi-independently of official Church norms, and how the voice served to establish their position. In the Catholic revival of the late nineteenth century, such forms were ousted by European modes of worship, but persisted at the margins, allowing us insight into their previous vigor.

The implementation of the elective subject "Public Health" in the final year for medical students at Göttingen University Medical Center: results of the UNITE project

International and national frameworks and initiatives call for strengthening the training of health professionals in the public health service (PHS) through cooperation with universities. The German Medical Licensing Regulations of 21st Sep 2021 provides for an integration of PHS into undergraduate medical training in the final year since 1st May 2022. The present study presents the procedure and results of the final year elective Public Health (PH) implementation for medical students at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) in cooperation with the local PHS. In the twelve-month project UNITE (07/21-06/22), the final year elective PH was implemented in seven steps: analysis of the framework conditions, conception of the elective, preparation of a logbook, pilot phase with five students in one-week rotations, public relations for students, introduction of a medical didactic training for staff of the health department and implementation of the elective PHS with students. A cooperation agreement between UMG and the Health Department regulates the training of medical students. Students complete four-week rotations in the areas of public health service and funeral services, paediatric and adolescent medical service, infection control and social psychiatric service. The logbook for students contains learning objectives for individuals specialised in services for self-assessment of the acquired competences. The didactics training was implemented with high learning success of the participating staff. So far three final year students have successfully completed the elective. The implementation of final year elective PHS strengthens the anchoring of public health topics in the education of medical students in Göttingen and makes PHS more visible as a professional perspective. Essential for the successful implementation were the establishment of a continuous cooperation between the university and the health department, student-oriented teaching-learning concept with a logbook suitable for the location, a trained multiprofessional team in the health department, and the evaluation of the elective for quality assurance and further development of the training. The concept presented here can help other locations in establishing the final year elective in PH and can be adapted to specific local conditions.

“Goodbye, I Love You”: Fyodor Dostoevsky in the Farewell Notes of Anna Dostoevskaya in 1881

The notebook of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s widow for the fatal 1881 is the most sought-after by the writer’s biographers. It contains the notes made by Anna Dostoevskaya for herself about her late husband within a few months after his death, according to the most recent memories of him. On paper, using shorthand signs in some cases, she recorded joint purchases, gifts received from her husband, his characteristic words, habits, tastes, manner of bearing, dressing, reciting aloud, peculiarities of eating, conversation, creative work (including the January issue of “A Writer’s Diary,” published after Dostoevsky’s death), recorded information related to the writer’s childhood years spent in Moscow, as well as the last days and hours of his life, the details of the funeral and funeral service, the children’s memories of their father. These recordings have already been published, but not in full and in violation of the sequence. Despite their fragmentary nature, unformulated into processed memories, and chaotic arrangement, they have their own composition and logic. The memoirist structures the farewell text with a dear person who continues to live in her memory in a specific way: she opens the entries with sketches of the writer’s plans for the next 10 years, and concludes with a dialogue about children as successors of the Dostoevsky family. Memories of the writer are not the only materials in the composition of Anna Dostoevskaya’s notebook. It also includes other documents of historical and literary value (bills, receipts, receipts, address records, letters, a newspaper clipping with an obituary about Doctor of Medicine Ivan Verevkin, etc.), a comprehensive review of which is presented for the first time in this article. In the course of the study, corrections were made to the previously transcribed text of Anna Dostoevskaya’s transcripts (by the Leningrad stenographer Ceciliia Poshemanskaya), errors in the manuscript rendition made in previous publications of this document were corrected. In the Appendix to the article, memoirs from Anna Dostoevskaya’s notebook of 1881 are published in full, accompanied by historical and literary commentaries based on the latest achievements of the study of Dostoevsky’s work.

Batu Qulhu—The stone of death: Harmonizing traditional funerals in the Mandailing community of North Sumatra

Death and funeral rituals hold significant cultural and spiritual importance in traditional communities worldwide, including within the Islamic faith. This study focuses on exploring the unique funeral ritual known as Batu Qulhu in the Muslim Mandailing community. Employing a qualitative approach, the research utilizes field observations and interviews with ulama and imams who have practical knowledge and understanding of this traditional ritual. The study reveals two origin stories of Batu Qulhu: one attributed to the first Imam in the Mandailing community and the other associated with parents, ulama, and village malims (religious teachers) without specifying an individual source. Batu Qulhu refers to the white river stones utilized by the congregation during the ritual to count the number of prayers offered. The procession of this tradition follows a strict protocol, encompassing prayers, recitation of the Quran, and seeking forgiveness for the deceased and their family. The efficacy of Batu Qulhu serves as a testament to the cultural values of spirituality, tradition, and the preservation of cultural identity. While Batu Qulhu remembrance is specific to the Mandailing community, similar cultural practices can be observed in other regions, highlighting the universal human need to honor and remember the deceased, find solace in collective rituals, and uphold cultural traditions as an integral part of identity and social cohesion.