Remembering the Dead

Shifting Forms of Commemoration and Immanent Understandings of Death in Obituaries

Bibliographic Data

ID13629040
AuthorsC Miller (0000-0001-6816-0973, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa, Toronto, ON, USA, corresponding author), Hannah Mckillop (0000-0002-1115-5062, Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa, Toronto, ON, USA), Sohini Ganguly (Department of Classics and Religious Studies, University of Ottawa, Toronto, ON, USA)
Year2024
Pages302228241272505-302228241272505
Publication date2024-11-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00302228241272505
PMID39491036
OpenAlexW4404051453
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited67

Obituaries serve important social functions; they announce death, but more importantly, allow the living to shape how the dead are remembered. Originally reserved for the elite, a democratization of the format has led to obituaries becoming more common and more detailed over the past century. Changes in this genre interact with the rise of nonreligion. As declining affiliation complicates the relationship between death and religious structures, obituaries reveal a shift from transcendent to immanent life stances, reflected in patterns of death commemorations. Based on analysis of obituaries across six Canadian newspapers over the past 120 years, this paper explores the relationships, activities, and values people express through obituaries. We argue that the growing appearance of family members left behind, favourite hobbies, and community associations indicate changes in how death is understood. Death is increasingly commemorated by reflecting on the relationships that people form in life

Art · Democracy · Democratization · Elite · Favourite · Fear of death · Genealogy · Literature · Media studies · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Social relationship · Sociology · Theology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access