Preliminary Programme

Wed 23 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Thu 24 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 17.30

Fri 25 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Sat 26 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

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Wednesday 23 April 2014 16.30 - 18.30
ZA-4 REL03 Roundtable: Comparison of Death Cultures
Hörsaal 24 basement
Networks: Culture , Religion Chair: Patrick Pasture
Organizer: Maarten Duijvendak Discussants: -
Maarten Duijvendak : Fama Post Mortum - Funerals as Society Events in a Border Region
Where funerals could be envisaged as intimate events for mourning families and close friends, some funerals turn out to be public events. This paper answers questions as whose funerals became society events, who were the people present at such an event and what were their roles? The research centres on ... (Show more)
Where funerals could be envisaged as intimate events for mourning families and close friends, some funerals turn out to be public events. This paper answers questions as whose funerals became society events, who were the people present at such an event and what were their roles? The research centres on middle classes and regional elites and we will figure out certain practices of social and religious groups on both sides of the Dutch-German border. The research is done on published accounts in different types of newspapers (different regional/local/ religious papers). In these newspapers appeared at the end of the 19th century long descriptions of funerals. These articles are not obituaries of prominent people, but a genre on itself. They form a part of the ceremony for remembering the life of a person itself. The paper will discuss the relevance of this emergence of a Fama post mortem vivere facit around 1900 on both sides of the border. (Show less)

Alexander Holthuis : Spanish Flu and Funerary Culture in the Northern-Netherlands 1918-1919
The Spanish Influenza of 1918 was one of the deadliest pandemic that humankind has ever seen, claiming around 50 million victims worldwide. The virus was so deadly, and it spread so explosively that it was dubbed “de windvlaag des doods” (the wind of death) in the Netherlands. About 30.000 people ... (Show more)
The Spanish Influenza of 1918 was one of the deadliest pandemic that humankind has ever seen, claiming around 50 million victims worldwide. The virus was so deadly, and it spread so explosively that it was dubbed “de windvlaag des doods” (the wind of death) in the Netherlands. About 30.000 people succumbed to the virus, especially the northern provinces of Drenthe en Groningen were hit particularly hard. Despite this peak in mortality (the Netherlands remained relatively untouched by deaths from the First World War), and the impact this must have had on society, the events have been largely banned from the collective memory. This research focuses on the social and religious aspects of the memorial culture during the Spanish Flu outbreak in the Northern Netherlands. How did it affect day-to-day life in Groningen and Drenthe? What was the response to this sudden peak in deaths? And most importantly, how did the influenza outbreak affect funerary culture in the region? The research revolves largely around data on deaths, and burial grounds. Its starting point is the registration of graves in a database, which will be combined with data on occupation, causes of death and funerary culture in general. (Show less)

Sonja König : Die Gruft Dornum - eine Häuptlingsgruft in Ostfriesland
The paper will discuss recent results from the archeological investigation of the 17th century Dornumer Crypt. Dornum provides evidence to the noble families which owned the castel “Norderburg” (the Haupling Kankena and von Closter) and used the crypt from the early 17th century onward. Most of the wooden sarcophagi are ... (Show more)
The paper will discuss recent results from the archeological investigation of the 17th century Dornumer Crypt. Dornum provides evidence to the noble families which owned the castel “Norderburg” (the Haupling Kankena and von Closter) and used the crypt from the early 17th century onward. Most of the wooden sarcophagi are decorated to serve the honour and commemoration of the deceased. Further in the church are the whole insignia of burials of the families – gravestones and hatchments from 15th century until 18th century. (Show less)

Bart Ramakers : Tombstone Poetry in a Context
The northern Netherlands, the Province of Groningen in particular, are known for their carved (predominantly rhymed) verses, stanzas, even complete poems, on the front or back of vertical headstones (stelae) mainly dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. This poetry sometimes testifies to the cause of death of ... (Show more)
The northern Netherlands, the Province of Groningen in particular, are known for their carved (predominantly rhymed) verses, stanzas, even complete poems, on the front or back of vertical headstones (stelae) mainly dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. This poetry sometimes testifies to the cause of death of the deceased, but in a majority of cases expresses the deceased’s and/or bereaved’s vision – that is, descriptions, characterizations, feelings, opinions – on life, the loss of life, and afterlife, both in general and in particular terms (the latter concerning the buried person). This paper will contextualize gravestone poetry in the following respects: 1) stylistically and aesthetically, by linking gravestone poems to contemporary currents of textual remembrance and mortuary literature (death poetry, death prayers, funeral orations, obituaries); 2) socially and religiously, by linking gravestone poems to the social, religious, and wider philosophical background and orientation of both the deceased and the bereaved; 3) monumentally, spatially, and functionally, by linking gravestone poems to the material, the design and the iconography of the stones in which they were carved, to the particular location of the graves and gravestones that carry poetry, and to the diverse encounters (conscious visits or occasional walks) and uses (reading, reciting, pondering, remembering) to which graveyards, stones and poems enticed those confronting or passing them (Show less)



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