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6/2020 – Evaluation in Social Work 1/2021 – ERIS Journal - Winter 2021 - Forced Migration and Minority Groups 2/2021 – 3/2021 – 4/2021 – ERIS Journal - Summer 2021 - Histories of social work

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Issues » 2010/2 - Social Work with the Dying »

The Role of Rituals in the Mourning Process

Radana Nováková

Abstract:
The author of the text looks into the role of rituals in the mourning process. Within the following overview statement, the author defines “transitive ritual” in which specific categories of separate and consecutive phases are distinguished in accordance with Arnold Van Gennep (1909). They express the separation and the border merger while their meaning is still the same, i.e. allowing individuals to move from one living situation to another. As such, they contribute to the fulfilment of important social functions. The course of each phase is illustrated by example of funeral rituals which were recorded in the middle of 19th century in the town of Vizovice.

Keywords:
funeral, funeral ceremony, rites of passage (separation, transition, reincorporation), ritual, ritualistic behaviour, death, social and cultural anthropology, mourning, dying, grief

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