The Routledge Handbook of Death and the Afterlife
-
New York, NY:Routledge, June2018.400 pages.$220.00.Hardcover.ISBN9781138682160.For other formats: Link to Publisher's Website.
Review by Kevin Whitesides forthcoming.
Description
This Handbook traces the history of the changing notion of what it means to die and examines the many constructions of afterlife in literature, text, ritual, and material culture throughout time. The Routledge Handbook of Death and the Afterlife is an outstanding reference source to the key topics, problems, and debates in this exciting subject. Comprising twenty-nine chapters by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into three parts and covers the following important themes:
- The study of dying, death, and grief
- Disposal of the dead: past, present, and future
- Representations of death: narratives and rhetoric
- Youth meets death: a juxtaposition
- Questionable deaths and afterlives: suicide, ghosts, and avatars
- Material corpses and imagined afterlives around the world
Within these sections, central issues, debates, and problems are examined, including: the world of death and dying from various cultural viewpoints and timeframes, cultural and social constructions of the definition of death, disposal practices, and views of the afterlife.
The Routledge Handbook of Death and the Afterlife is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology.
Comments
Reading Religion welcomes comments from AAR members, and you may leave a comment below by logging in with your AAR Member ID and password. Please read our policy on commenting.