Гробът като визитна картичка и нагласите на българина към смъртта.
The Headstone as a Business Card and the Bulgarian Attitudes toward Death

A Comparative Analysis of Bulgarian and American Headstones

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the influence of culture on attitudes toward death. The objects of research are a specific element of Bulgarian and American culture: a comparison is made between headstones, and the social markers engraved on them, in Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery and in the Central Sofia Cemetery. The results of the conducted content analysis indicate that the professional status of the deceased is marked more often on gravestones in Bulgarian culture than in American, while the reverse relationship is present with regard to the marking of interpersonal status and family affiliation. Sentimental symbols and symbols with a purely decorative purpose are more common in the American sample, while such symbolic images are generally less present on Bulgarian headstones, but when they do occur there, they serve as a complementary marker of the professional status of the deceased more often than is the case in the American sample. The author looks for the cause of these results in the national psychology and the specific historical development of the two cultures, which were chosen in view of the significant cultural differences between them.

• Details
• Contents