want to lay next to cindy
trends are phenomena that take place within a social system, society. we have gained an understanding of society, of trends, (life)styles, social roles and social identities and their interrelationships and critically describe a seminar paper on a specifically chosen trend phenomenon using qualitative methods of observation.
from the desire to deal with the topic of death, in which we see an importance for the removal of taboos of the topic, as well as the change of the mourning culture and the topic humans and animals, the union of both topics came and led to the social-scientific analysis of the animal cemetery.
here are some excerpts:
we cannot ask our pets if they would like to find their eternal rest on the necropolis for animals. recently, however, there has been a growing desire to bid our animals a dignified farewell. a place for the dead, made for the living. not such a young phenomenon, as the history of the animal cemetery shows. the relationship to our pets is changing and so is the burial culture after their death, because if animals are buried like humans, this can undoubtedly be regarded as social change.
through the social construction, the pet becomes an animal person, it becomes semi-personalized and thus lives as a "pet animal" together with us in a nuclear family intimacy (1).
object or subject, eating or stroking, cadaver or corpse
just like the human cemetery, the animal cemetery is a place of crisis as well as of crisis management. It functions as a place of reflection, public places of mourning, memory, construction of meaning and intimization.
non-religious people and members of different religious communities have their animals buried side by side in the same cemetery. in comparison to the human cemetery, we are not familiar with this, where jews, catholics, protestants and buddhists are strictly buried separately.
photography embodies the dead animal during his lifetime. what the physical body did during its lifetime is now replaced by a material, transformed into a second body. there is talk of memory material. (2)
words that the animal could not understand even during his lifetime serve as a function to overcome the bereavement of the bereaved at a parasocial level.
"buebeli, meitli, baby and müsli" signs of infantilization
the eyes of the pet animal are closed, the coat is cared for and prepared for burial. the human being may decide whether his animal is wrapped in a linen cloth or buried in a specially made wooden coffin.
coping with mourning, whether in humans or animals, is handled differently and different demands are made. for some the death of the pet animal must be made visible, for others memories suffice. urns in the living room, graves in private gardens, animal cemeteries, pieces of jewelery, memorial pictures or virtual memorials function side by side and each address an individual group of people.
is the pet becoming more and more humanized, looked at on the same level and given the same rights as we have? the fact that the animal and the human being are already buried together is an argument for this. Mixed graves are offered and also used. It is a kind of family grave.
is the physical body only a shell and is disposed of again at a cadaver place? a possible future scenario, which could also apply to us humans? although this still seems very unrealistic today, since the physical life, habitus and faith of man cannot be completely replaced by digitality?
"our society is constantly reshaping itself. when society changes,
it changes the end of life."
(3)
just read it here
sources:
1. wiedenmann, rainer e.: neuer totemismus? überlegungen zur genese und semantik moderner tierbestattung. in: soziale welt, 1993, 204
(translated by viviana leida leonhardt)
2. meitzler, matthias: hunde wollt ihr ewig leben? der tote vierbeiner-ein krisentier.iIn: burzan, nicole und ronald hitzler: auf den hund gekommen. interdisziplinäre annäherung an ein verhältnis. wiesbaden: springer fachbmedien, 2017, 191
(translated by viviana leida leonhardt)
3.fischer, norbert: der entfesselte friedhof. in: thorsten benkel hHg.): die zukunft des todes. heterotopien des lebensendes. bielefeld: transcript verlag, 2016, 8
(translated by viviana leida leonhardt)
collaboration with rafael gil cordeiro
trends and identity, zhdk
jan 19
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