Denied funeral rituals in pandemic times
Funeral workers’ experience with ‘contagious corpses
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4531363 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Romio (0000-0002-5287-2383, UCLouvain, corresponding author), Silvia Romio |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 91-109 |
| Publication date | 2023-04-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Remains and Violence An Interdisciplinary Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2054-2240 • E-ISSN: 2054-2240 |
| Publisher | Manchester University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.7227/hrv.9.1.6 |
| OpenAlex | W4367309567 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
The extremely high death rates in northern Italy during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic called for exceptional rules and suspension of funeral practices and burial rites. Additionally, forms of collective burial, typical of a wartime scenario, and mechanical methods and timing were reintroduced into the handling of corpses. Although several academic studies have highlighted how the absence of funeral ceremonies and 'dignified burials' has caused prolonged and deep suffering for the mourners and for many of the caregivers and health workers, few have so far focused on funeral workers. This article focuses on the intimate, emotional and ethical experiences of a group of funeral workers in northern Italy who handled COVID corpses and had to take the place of the mourners at the time of burial. Through an anthropological analysis of their oral memories, this work attempts to analyse their expressions of discomfort, frustration, fear and suffering
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Criminology · Ethnology · Pandemic · Sociology · Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History · Medicine · Psychology · Virology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |