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5 Ways of bidding farewell

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War Dead
This chapter is in the book War Dead
EUBK023-05EUBK023-CapdevilaJune 11, 200610:22Char Count= 05Ways of bidding farewellThe biological fact of death which concerns every societyhas given rise to a range of cultural practices, enablingthe living to take their leave of those no longer present.The purpose of these rites, analysed usually by anthropolo-gists, is to help the bereaved accept death in the long term,to come to terms with the ultimate parting, and to sanctionand channel the mourner’s expression of grief. We have re-ferred to the striking growth in the number of war deadfrom the second half of the nineteenth century. Have war-ring societies managed to go on observing traditional formsof final valediction, in spite of this increase?As well as dealing in a benevolent or vengeful fashionwith the corpses which war produced, the living have actedconsciously in accordance with or in breach of acceptedpractices. Societies at war have striven to maintain theirtraditions, so far as conditions allowed. Age-old customs,instinctively followed, were revitalised by the very atmo-sphere of war, when patriotic fervour made them mean-ingful and real. But, because war represented a breach inthe normal life of human beings on earth, a period duringwhich upheavals and transgressions were no longer excep-tional, populations under attack have also been inventive,behaved in new ways, conducted improvised funerals, andcreated new rituals.As a general rule, funeral rituals take place in fourstages: oblation, separation, integration and commemo-ration.1During the ritual acts of oblation, the deceased is sur-rounded as if he were still alive. Depending upon local114
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

EUBK023-05EUBK023-CapdevilaJune 11, 200610:22Char Count= 05Ways of bidding farewellThe biological fact of death which concerns every societyhas given rise to a range of cultural practices, enablingthe living to take their leave of those no longer present.The purpose of these rites, analysed usually by anthropolo-gists, is to help the bereaved accept death in the long term,to come to terms with the ultimate parting, and to sanctionand channel the mourner’s expression of grief. We have re-ferred to the striking growth in the number of war deadfrom the second half of the nineteenth century. Have war-ring societies managed to go on observing traditional formsof final valediction, in spite of this increase?As well as dealing in a benevolent or vengeful fashionwith the corpses which war produced, the living have actedconsciously in accordance with or in breach of acceptedpractices. Societies at war have striven to maintain theirtraditions, so far as conditions allowed. Age-old customs,instinctively followed, were revitalised by the very atmo-sphere of war, when patriotic fervour made them mean-ingful and real. But, because war represented a breach inthe normal life of human beings on earth, a period duringwhich upheavals and transgressions were no longer excep-tional, populations under attack have also been inventive,behaved in new ways, conducted improvised funerals, andcreated new rituals.As a general rule, funeral rituals take place in fourstages: oblation, separation, integration and commemo-ration.1During the ritual acts of oblation, the deceased is sur-rounded as if he were still alive. Depending upon local114
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Preface xi
  5. Acknowledgements xviii
  6. 1 War dead 1
  7. 2 Identifying the dead to mourn them properly? 22
  8. 3 Armies and states faced with their dead 37
  9. 4 What should be done with enemy corpses? 76
  10. 5 Ways of bidding farewell 114
  11. 6 Ritualised mourning in acts of commemoration 149
  12. Epilogue: The presence of dead bodies 180
  13. Bibliography 184
  14. Index 195
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474465625-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Preface xi
  5. Acknowledgements xviii
  6. 1 War dead 1
  7. 2 Identifying the dead to mourn them properly? 22
  8. 3 Armies and states faced with their dead 37
  9. 4 What should be done with enemy corpses? 76
  10. 5 Ways of bidding farewell 114
  11. 6 Ritualised mourning in acts of commemoration 149
  12. Epilogue: The presence of dead bodies 180
  13. Bibliography 184
  14. Index 195
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