Funeral festivals in America
Subtitle: rituals for the living
By: Jacqueline S. Thursby.
Series: Material worlds
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Lexington, Ky
Language: eng
Number of pages: 158
ISBN-13: 9780813123806
Subjects: Funeral rites and ceremonies -- United States.; Festivals -- United States.; Wake services -- United States.; United States -- Social life and customs.
Description: "Funeral Festivals in America examines rituals for loved ones separated by death, frivolities surrounding death, funeral foods and feasts, post-funeral rites, and personalized memorials and grave markers. Thursby concludes that though Americans come from many different cultural traditions, they deal with death in largely similar ways. They emphasize unity and embrace rites that soothe the distress of death as a way to heal and move forward."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Funerals as festivals; title: The final passage; title: Wakes and other amusements; title: Funeral biscuits and funeral feasts; title: Mourners' rites; title: Explaining the festival and the American way of death.