The dead body: myths, rites and superstitions

This study is of a predominantly socio-anthropological nature, dealing with the traditions, beliefs, myths, rites and finally, how the human community imagines the post mortem and treats someone who has died. Thus, following a brief historical digression about death in the West, based on the works o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Martins, Moisés de Lemos (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1822/29226
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt:1822/29226
Description
Summary:This study is of a predominantly socio-anthropological nature, dealing with the traditions, beliefs, myths, rites and finally, how the human community imagines the post mortem and treats someone who has died. Thus, following a brief historical digression about death in the West, based on the works of Philippe Ariès (1975 and 1977), Louis-Vincent Thomas (1985), and Maria Manuel Oliveira (2007), my purpose is to focus primarily on contemporary practice, where the transformations wrought by technology on culture and the media throughout the twentieth century, have changed our sense of both life and death.