Religious Traditions and Their Absence in Present-Day Czech Funerary Practice

• Authors: Nešporová Olga

Title variants

CS

Náboženské tradice a jejich absence v současné české pohřební praxi

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

Funerary practices in the present-day Czech Republic are a very specific field that is worthy of special attention. High rate of cremations and especially the fifty-percent and still growing rate of cremations without a funerary ceremony are unique in the world. The article presents specific features of funerary practices, and tries to point out the reasons that gave rise to them. It uses data from several field researches conducted by the author in funeral services in 2003–2018, as well as historical and ethnological data and studies. The author refers to the interconnection between religious and secular traditions (cremation movement and civil funerals) and the present-day burials, cremations and funerary ceremonies in the Czech Republic. Cremations without ceremonies (direct cremations) are most usual in Prague, and central, northern and western Bohemia. The text interprets this phenomenon as a consequence of the absence of religious traditions and the massive spread of civil funerals during the reign of the Communist party in the second half of the 20th century.

Keywords

EN

Burial; funerary ceremonies; religion; funeral; secular rituals; cremations; civil funerals

Discipline

• ETHNOLOGY: ETHNOLOGY

• Publisher: The National Institute of Folk Culture
• Journal: Národopisná revue (Journal of Ethnology)
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 143 - 153

Contributors

author

Nešporová Olga