Celebrations of Death

This revised and updated edition of a cross-cultural study of rituals surrounding death has become a standard text in anthropology, sociology, and religion. Part of its fascination and success-also among a general readership-is that in understanding other people's death rituals we are also able to gain a better understanding of our own.

List of illustrations; Preface; Introduction to the second edition; 1. Preliminaries; Part I. Universals and Culture: 2. Emotional reactions to death; 3. Symbolic associations of death; Part II. Death as Transition: 4. The living and the dead: a re-examination of Hertz; 5. Death rituals and life values: rites of passage reconsidered; Part III. The Royal Corpse and the Body Politic: 6. The dead king; 7. The immortal kingship; Part IV. Seeing Ourselves Anew: 8. American deathways; Bibliography; Index.