In “Tradition, Modernity, & Postmodernity in Symbolism of Death”, Abby Collier argues that the symbolic representation of death has been redirected to a individualized representation of the deceased from a traditional representation, influenced by the social and cultural ways of dealing with death. The article discusses the evolution of the cemetery as social records, community and a postindustrial record, focusing on the transformation of the gravestones and memorialization of individuals through symbolic imagery. Collier insists that over the three distinct eras traditional, modern and postmodern, the symbols remain the same, while size, material and finish of gravestones differ.
The cemetery is believed to be a reflection of life, symbolic of social structures or a replica of a living community. The sense of community in burial practices varies depending on inscriptions or markers, which experienced changes from the movement to industrial from to romantic era (Collier 729). Memorialization provides an insight to cultural trends, cultural pluralism in war memorials, and individual identification, by way of change in symbols over time. Collier finds that history is not relatable to individuals today, for the two perspectives regarding funerary art divide between postmodern with extreme change and one that prevails all eras. She suggests that, “the lack of cultural traditional guidelines leaves some individuals isolated and alienated” however, this notion holds a bias towards institutional funerary practices (Collier 730).
The article focuses on the 150-year-old public cemetery, Stone Mountain, to map out the transition of gravestones over the years. The gravestones were categorized based on their symbolism, which was divided i...
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...ent. While the use of commemorative objects are minimal, with only a few flowers, Christmas refs and festive ornaments.
The argument Collier regarding the symbolism and formal characteristics of the gravestones is consistent with those found in Camp Hill cemetery, with the exception of particular styles which she did not mention. The distinction between the eras is evident, but it must be noted that cultural influence assists in the changes and desired aesthetic of the gravestone. Overall Collier’s findings are cohesive and provide a standard guideline for interpreting the difference between gravestones from previous eras, the sense of community in burial practices and the progression of personalized symbolism.
Works Cited
Collier, C. D. Abby. "Tradition, Modernity, And Postmodernity In Symbolism Of Death." The Sociological Quarterly 44.4 (2003): 727-49. Print.
Ever take a midnight train to Georgia? No, well ever drive through Georgia? When driving through Georgia on State Road 49, there is a little town called Andersonville that is very easy to miss. To many it is just another town. Yet this town has its own trail. The Andersonville Trail is a small brown dirt road that leads visitors to the Andersonville National Historic Site (Roberts xi). This National Historic Site looks like a “well- tended” national cemetery. On closer examination, this cemetery is nothing like Arlington (Roberts xi). “In this national cemetery, the marble headstones are so close together, they almost touch. The markers appear to be one long head...
There are an average of thirty funerals a day, and more than four million people pay their respects to the fallen each year. One of those things is the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A young soldier with a face as solid as steel, hands as strong as iron takes twenty-one steps as he crosses in front of the white tomb. The words etched into the tomb are “Here Rests in Honored Glory An American Soldier But Known To God.”
Thousands of headstones in the far distance create magnificent mazes against the horizon. The immense land has very little room to spare as it is overflowing with graves of heroic soldiers. The white marble graves are like oversized dominos stacked precisely in the thick wind ruffled grass. It is almost inconceivable to imagine each tomb is the physical eternal home to a once courageous and patriotic warrior of our homeland. As the fireball in the heavens slowly descends, it creates a glorious silhouette of the infinite number of tombstones.
A cemetery is where the past is buried; the people within them carry stories, ideas, and moments that make up the history we know today. Some of that history is buried there to forget, while sometimes, cemeteries serve as a way of remembering. It is in this duality that author of Native Guard, Natasha Trethewey, conveys one of the biggest themes. Trethewey, in her use of cemeteries does not simply praise the act of remembering history; rather she injects guilt in the act of burying the past. Through showing the guilt in turning away from her mother’s grave, and in parallel through showing society turning away from the graves and lives of the Native Guard, Trethewey tries to instill guilt within society in order to encourage readers to never forget the past.
Deaths were a form of social event, when families and loved ones would gather around the bed of the dying, offering emotional support and comfort. Myth, religion, and tradition would combine to give the event deeper meaning and ease the transition for all involved. The one who was dying was confident in knowing what lay behind the veil of death, thanks to religious faith or tradition. His or her community held fast to the sense of community, drawing strength from social ties and beliefs. (“Taboos and Social Stigma - Rituals, Body, Life, History, Time, Person, Human, Traditional Views of Death Give Way to New Perceptions" 1)
Transcribed on the entrance of the Parisian Catacombs are the words, “Arrete! C’est ici l’empire de la Mort.” Translated to English, this means, “Stop! This is the empire of the Dead”(Gup). Past this interesting transcription lies the largest ossuary in the world (Geisweiller). Containing six million bodies and bones, this is more massive than the largest cemetery on Earth, the Wadi Al-Salaam, which contains over five million bodies (Wright). Some people go into Paris for the sole purpose of venturing into these Catacombs, some more devoted than others. While catacombs can easily be connected to cemeteries, their complex histories, structures, and audiences are harder to explain.
Fifty-five million people die each year and yet the number of people who get a grand memorial can be virtually counted on a few dozens of hands. An article in the New York Times made me wonder if memorials are not, perhaps, taken too literary and if, maybe, a memorial can be more than just a work of art or a bench “in the name of someone”.
...man was left outside to decay. Once his body decayed, they collected his bones and respectfully placed them into some sort of basket. Then he was buried. There were gifts that I did not notice that were placed in with his bones. Although the bones are scattered and look gruesome to me, for this culture, this is considered a respectful burial. Because of my unconscious cultural prejudice assumption on the burial, my conclusions on the picture were completely false.
De Spelder and Strickland (1983) say that the understanding of death is communicated through the process of socialization by which children learn the concepts and conversations that have value in modern society (p.64). Geoffrey Goer believes that there is evidence to suggest that death has become a taboo and has replaced sex as the unspoken subject of today’s society. Goer says children “are initiated in their early years to love (the concept of sex); But they no longer see their grandfather and express astonishment, they are told that he is resting in a beautiful garden among the flowers” (Walter, p.92-3, 1991). In this essay I will discuss whether death is what Geoffrey Goer suggests, a ‘taboo’ subject within Western Society. Firstly, I will outline what I mean by the terms ‘death’ and ‘taboo’, after which I will place reasons why academics find death to be tabooed and why some argue why death is not tabooed subject. Finally from the analysis of these arguments, I will propose from the evidence, whether in fact death is actually ‘tabooed’.
Suter, Keith. “Roadside Memorials: Sacred Places in a Secular Era.” Contemporary Review 292.1692 (Spring 2010): 51+. Psychology Collection. EBSCO: Academic Onefile. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.
In their article on the subject of memorialisation, historians Gavin Hughes and Jonathan Trigg state the purpose of memorials as being a ‘potent and powerful symbol precisely because of its simplicity and instant familiarity.’ This is true for most of Britain as the First World War was the first time they had experienced loss of this scale and for the country as a whole it was crucial that there be a way for the millions of families affected to show their respect and to grieve. In 1916, the government forbade families to exhume bodies and bring them back to Britain, depriving them of any solid means of closure or acceptance. It was therefore the rise of memorials in their many shapes and forms that gave them the chance to grieve and to pay their respects to the thousands of dead. These memorials have changed in
The suspected architect and sculptor, Skopas of Paros, reflected the Late Classical movement of humanization with his trademark being intense emotionalism. The grave stele to which I am referring, displays a deep, concentrated psychological tension. The stele reflects an earlier work, but Skopas’s stele echoes a noticeable change in mood. This work does not focus purely on the deceased. Instead, much of the emotion stems from the survival of those surrounding the
Death: it is something that has touched, or will touch, every single human being in the world. It is something that connects all living things to one another and helps humans relate experiences, and one person’s death may affect many. Through the usage visual elements such as color and symbolism along with her words, Joanna Sakellion’s “Intersecting Lives” shows how a woman’s death connected three individuals.
As the database will be used for research as well as town-planning by a wide variety of people, including historians, local councils, genealogists, sociologists and epidemiologists, it is anticipated that it will include not only information about the graveyards themselves, but also the buildings, individual gravestones and the records of people buried there. [Emphasis added]
Aims of the article: “understanding the role of memory in different eras of the Roman empire,” Evolution of commemoration over time, relationship between Romans and their monuments. Explore the effects of monuments on public memory and visitor perception. Explore how a collection was “lived and experienced”