The Revenant on the Threshold

Bibliographic Data

ID2658866
AuthorsElif Boyacıoğlu (0000-0002-0439-6423, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume62
Pages7-36
Publication date2015-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore Electronic Journal of Folklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1406-0957 • E-ISSN: 1406-0949
PublisherEstonian Literary Museum of Scholarly Press (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.7592/fejf2015.62.boyacioglu
OpenAlexW3032127993
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

This study explores accounts of the revenant, the walking dead in medieval Britain through the concept of a failure in the ritual process that surrounded death. This concept is used to explore the rituals leading to, surrounding, and following death, as well as the consequences of their perceived failure. The study of folklore and supernatural beliefs provides a unique insight into the perception of the failed ritual process of death and its consequences, as well as how the community dealt with them. Thus the nature of the revenant and the conditions that lead to its existence as a consequence of a ritual failure will be explored. It is identified as a stagnated presence, divorced from its ritual context, with no foreseeable end. The revenant threatens the community as a whole, be it through physical violence or contagion; it needs to be excised to protect the community and its members

Anthropological Studies and Insights · History

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