BYU

Harold B. Lee Library

Funerals, Mourning, and Foods

Jacqueline S. Thursby, PhD Associate Professor,English Department Brigham Young University

  • Time: 3:00 PM
  • Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004
  • Place: DeLamar Jensen Lecture Room, 1130 HBLL


About the Event

The final step in the life process, death, is responded to in myriad ways by contemporary folk communities in the United States. Many funeral rituals and folkways have become culturally syncretic, even commodified, but in spite of acculturation and adaptation, there remain distinct ritual traditions practiced by various American religious and ethnic groups. This folkloric research and presentation situates contemporary American funerary practices, including wakes and banquets, in the realm of festival by presenting evidence for placing funerary customs in a celebratory category.