Until Death Reunite Us. Review of Funeral Rituals in Nikšić, Montenegro
Until Death Reunite Us. Review of Funeral Rituals in Nikšić, Montenegro

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this study is to present the manner in which funeral rituals maintain and renew social and familial relations among the elderly population in the town of Nikšić in central Montenegro. During the present time of cultural and social changes, funeral rituals continue to unite a large group of people on an almost daily basis. Tracking news about who has died, how they died, when condolences should be paid, and when the funeral will be organized by the elderly is more critical in most cases than is news of national importance. Old people often have limited mobility due old age or to a late modern society that does not allow for too much spare time; therefore, visits to families and friends are not as frequent as they used to be. However, visits to the funeral home and expressing condolences are events at which the elderly’s presence is almost mandatory. Since such a relation towards death deviates from modern ideas and behaviours concerning the inevitable end of each of us, it would prove beneficial to illustrate and examine the manner by which this system of relations in the town of Nikšić has been established, its duration, the social and cultural impact on all participants of a system established in such a way, the relation of young generations towards funeral rituals, and the dissent between generations arising from these circumstances. More precisely, this study aims to provide an answer to the question of how the older generation resists changes by means of death.

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