Пламена тела : спаљивање мртвих у Србији, од паганског ритуала до модерне кремације
Fiery bodies : burning dead in Serbia - from pagan ritual to modern cremation

Author(s): Aleksandra Pavićević
Subject(s): Anthropology, Social Sciences
Published by: Етнографски институт САНУ
Keywords: cremation; death customs; Serbia; Creating the dead
Summary/Abstract: Modern cremation was a radical innovation in the treatment of the dead body. Although its promoters referred to earlier traditions of burning the dead, the resemblance to pre-Christian and non-Christian posthumous practices was only formal in nature. Essentially, it contained a completely different urge: the desire for the fastest and most insensitive, cleanest, easiest and "beautiful" removal of the body as possible. Atheistic and sometimes even nihilistic understandings that accompanied the spread of this idea, and later the practice, did not at first question the reverence for the dead that characterizes Christian civilization. The modern idea of cremating the dead was actually a pregnant sign of changes in other spheres of life, and most of all a sign of the beginning of a time that will strive to achieve immortality outside the framework of existing religious teachings.

• Details
• Contents