Smrt, umírání a pohřební rituály v české společnosti ve 20. století

• Authors: Nesporova O.

Title variants

EN

DEATH, DYING, AND FUNERAL RITES IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY CZECH SOCIETY

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

In this article the authoress considers the topic of death, dying and funeral rites in Czech society in the broader European and historical context. In the first part, she presents the social-science conception of the taboo on death in early twentieth-century European society and then the gradual lifting of that taboo owing mainly to an interest in dying, which appeared from about the 1960s. She also outlines developments in funeral rites, typical of which is the transition from the traditionally Christian (particularly Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox) laying of the dead body into the ground to cremation and the scattering of ashes. Against the background of these developments in Western society she then considers the situation in Czech society, which, owing to forty years of Communist rule and the high degree of secularization, was rather different from Western Europe. Indeed, questions related to dying and hospice care were generally not dealt with by Czechs till the 1990s. The great mistrust of churches has led to less than half of all present-day funeral ceremonies including a religious component. Moreover, Czech society has lost the awareness that organizing a funeral ceremony is a necessity for both the deceased and the bereaved. Consequently, about a third of all cremations in this country take place without any real ceremony.

Keywords

EN

COMMUNISM; CZECH SOCIETY; DEATH; RELIGION

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY
• SOCIOLOGY: SOCIOLOGY

• Publisher: Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Soudobé dějiny (Contemporary History)
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 2-3
• Pages: 354-378
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Nesporova O.

• O. Nesporova, Vyzkumny ustav prace a socialnich veci, Palackeho namesti 4, 120 00 Praha 2, Czech Republic

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08CZAAAA03637366