The dead have largely lost their social importance, visibility, and impact in American society. This event is essentially a phenomenon of the present century. For three centuries prior, the dead world occupied a significant and readily recognizable place in the living world. Indeed, that place was growing rapidly through much of the 19th century. Causes of the reversal in relationship between the two worlds are examined and consequences of the present radical withdrawal from the dead are suggested.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CoveyC., The American Pilgrimage: The Roots of American Religion and Culture, Peter Smith, New York, 1961.
2.
SaumL., Death in the Popular Mind of Pre-Civil War America, In: StannardDavid (ed.), Death in America, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, pp. 30–48, 1975.
3.
HabensteinR. and LamersW., The History of American Funeral Directing, Bulfin Printers, Milwaukee, 1955.
4.
DouglasA., Heaven Our Home: Consolation Literature in the Northern United States 1830–80, StannardDavid (ed.), Death in America, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, pp. 49–68, 1975.
5.
BranchE. D., The Sentimental Years, 1836–1860, Hill and Wang, New York, 1934.
6.
BowmanL., The American Funeral: A Study in Guilt, Extravagance, and Sublimity, Public Affairs Press, Washington, D. C., 1959.
7.
BlaunerR., Death and Social Structure, Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, pp. 29, 378–94, 1966.
8.
FultonR., Death, Grief and Social Recuperation, Omega, 1:1, pp. 23–28, 1970.
9.
KalishR., The Effects of Death Upon the Family, PearsonLeonard (ed.), Death and Dying: Current Issues in the Treatment of the Dying Person, Case Western, Cleveland, pp. 79–107, 1969.
10.
KephartW., Status After Death, American Sociological Review, 15, pp. 635–43, 1950.
11.
WolframS., The Decline of Mourning, The Listener, 75, pp. 763–64, 1966.
12.
FultonR. and GeisG., Death and Social Values, FultonRobert (ed.), Death and Identity, John Wiley, New York, pp. 67–75, 1965.
13.
GorerG., The Pornography of Death, Encounter, 5, pp. 49–52, 1955.
14.
GoldscheiderC., The Mortality Revolution, ShneidmanEdwin (ed.), Death: Current Perspectives, Mayfield Publishing Co., Palo Alto, Calif., pp. 163–88, 1976.
