Death and the afterlife in modern France / Thomas A. Kselman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kselman, Thomas A. (Thomas Albert), 1948- author.

Series:

Princeton Legacy Library

Princeton legacy library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Funeral rites and ceremonies--France--History--19th century.

Funeral rites and ceremonies.

Death--Religious aspects--Catholic Church.

Death.

France--Religious life and customs.

France.

France--Social life and customs.

France--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (432 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1993]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Although today in France church attendance is minimal, when death occurs many families still cling to religious rites. In exploring this common reaction to one of the most painful aspects of existence, Thomas Kselman turns to nineteenth-century French beliefs about death and the afterlife not only to show how deeply rooted the cult of the dead is in one Western society, but how death and the behavior of mourners have been politicized in the modern world. Drawing on sermons preached in rural and urban parishes, folktales, and accounts of seances, the author vividly re-creates the social and cultural context in which most French people responded to death and dealt with anxieties about the self and its survival. Inspired mainly by Catholicism, beliefs about death provided a social basis for moral order throughout the nineteenth century and were vulnerable to manipulation by public officials and clergy. Kselman shows, however, that by mid-century the increase in urbanization, capitalism, family privacy, and expressed religious differences generated diverse attitudes toward death, causing funerals to evolve from Catholic neighborhood rituals into personalized symbolic events for Catholics and dissenters alike--the civil burial of Victor Hugo being perhaps the greatest symbol of rebellion. Kselman's discussion of the growth of commercial funerals and innovations in cemetery administration illuminates a new struggle for control over funeral arrangements, this time involving businessmen, politicians, families, and clergy. This struggle in turn demonstrates the importance of these events for defining social identity.Originally published in 1993.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

TABLES

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE: Mortality and Mortal Knowledge

PART TWO: Folk, Orthodox, and Alternative Cultures

PART THREE: The Material Culture of Death

Notes

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [377]-400) and index.

ISBN:

9781400862986

1400862981

OCLC:

884012878