Places of Dying and Rituals of Mourning
Author
Summary, in English
The purpose of this paper is to explore in what way the place becomes important for those who are affected by disasters or sudden death. According to human geography people have affective bonds to the concrete physical places where they are living and moving in their everyday live. Places are also constructed as meeting places where people create social relations. In the discotheque fire in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1998, 63 young people died and over 200 were injured. Backaplan, the little square and street in front of the building where the fire occurred, became a memorial place. Young people and families of the victims assembled to honour the deceased with candles, flowers and poems. These memorial things were removed in cooperation with the affected families. Backaplan was, at first, the place of joy and party, then it became a place of death and sorrow.
Backaplan is not the only place that has been significant after a disaster. It is common today that places where car accidents have occurred or somebody has been murdered become important for the affected. Relatives of the Swedish victims travel to Thailand after the tsunami disaster in 2004 to look for their family members and to see the place where their relatives died. Ritual interactions is a part in the process of transforming a place to a charged place. The spontaneous and formal rituals at Backaplan and the other places are interactions which strengthen the group as Émile Durkheim found in his studies about religion. Interactions generate fellowship, solidarity in the group and emotional energy for those participating in the ritual according to Randall Collins theories about interaction ritual chains. For successful rituals, the bodily presence is necessary as well as a physical, concrete place.
Backaplan is not the only place that has been significant after a disaster. It is common today that places where car accidents have occurred or somebody has been murdered become important for the affected. Relatives of the Swedish victims travel to Thailand after the tsunami disaster in 2004 to look for their family members and to see the place where their relatives died. Ritual interactions is a part in the process of transforming a place to a charged place. The spontaneous and formal rituals at Backaplan and the other places are interactions which strengthen the group as Émile Durkheim found in his studies about religion. Interactions generate fellowship, solidarity in the group and emotional energy for those participating in the ritual according to Randall Collins theories about interaction ritual chains. For successful rituals, the bodily presence is necessary as well as a physical, concrete place.
Department/s
Publishing year
2005
Language
English
Publication/Series
[Host publication title missing]
Full text
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Document type
Conference paper
Publisher
Nordic Geographers Meeting, Lund 1-13/5 2005
Topic
- Human Geography
Keywords
- discotheque fire in Göteborg 1998
- emotional energy
- interaction rituals
- place
Conference name
Inaugural Nordic Geographers Meeting, 2005
Conference date
2005-05-10 - 2005-05-14
Conference place
Lund, Sweden
Status
Published
Project
- FRIVA
Research group
- LUCRAM (Lund University Center for Risk Analysis and Management