The choir invisible: Reflections on the living and the dead

Cantwell, Anne-Marie

doi:10.1080/07481189008252398

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Tarlow argues that ‘the dead body … is … powerfully meaningful’ and that we should focus on the ‘complex interaction of interests, desires and understandings which are played out through the dead body’ (2002, 87). Dead human beings have power amongst the living, for example through the ways in which ‘a dead human body can … represent the living body politic or society itself’ (Cantwell 1990, 614). Here the dead body becomes…”

Section: Geography ‘Dead Body Politics’ and The Agency Of Corpsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Verdery analyses how dead bodies serve as symbols of political order and how ‘dead bodies have posthumous political life in the service of creating a newly meaningful universe’ (1999, 127; and on the socio‐religious and political role of various mobile corpses, see Cantwell 1990). This points to the political use of corpses, and, as Cantwell argues, ‘the transformation of the dead illuminates the transformation of society’ (1990, 626).…”

Section: Geography ‘Dead Body Politics’ and The Agency Of Corpsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Corpses, dead body politics and agency in human geography: following the corpse of Dr Petru Groza

Young

Light²

2012

Trans Inst British Geog

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This paper follows the mobilities between 1958 and 1990 of the dead body of Dr Petru Groza , a significant political figure in post-World War II socialist Romania, to explore the implications for human geography of engaging with the dead. Although there has been a considerable interest in 'geographies of the body' and 'deathscapes', human geography has had relatively little to say about dead bodies. The paper draws on literatures from death studies and dead body politics, as well as research in memory studies, history, anthropology and law, to develop an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the role of the corpse in society, and argues that human geography should do more to consider how dead bodies contribute to the formation of contemporary geographies. To illustrate these points the analysis first explores how the treatment of Groza's corpse and the 'deathwork' associated with it is an example of 'dead body politics'. Second, the analysis draws out the agency of the corpse and its role in a variety of 'deathscapes'. The conclusion considers the implications for human geography of engaging with 'corpse geographies' more generally.

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Section: Geography ‘Dead Body Politics’ and The Agency Of Corpsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geography ‘Dead Body Politics’ and The Agency Of Corpsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corpses, dead body politics and agency in human geography: following the corpse of Dr Petru Groza

Young

Light²

2012

Trans Inst British Geog

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“…That desideratum may, again, although not necessarily, differ from participant to participant. But, I argue that in their reburial, the bones of these long dead have, with the active participation of anthropologists, undergone a seachange (Cantwell 1989(Cantwell , 1990(Cantwell , 1993. The full significance of these and similar transformations for modern bodies politic and the role that anthropologists play in them is just beginning to be explored.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In many ways, all these generations are in attendance at the grave site. As such, the reburials can be very powerful social dramas for all concerned ; see also Cantwell 1989Cantwell , 1990Cantwell , and 1993.…”

Section: -Eldon Yellowhornmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Who Knows the Power of His Bones”: Reburial Redux

Cantwell

2000

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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This paper discusses the repatriation of human remains to indigenous peoples in Australia and the United States and the role anthropologists play in the construction of past, present, and future identities for contemporary indigenous peoples. Using examples from both countries, I suggest that many of the participants at the reburials, and in the events leading up to them, were not only reburying their dead ancestors and addressing religious concerns, but were also redeeming past social injustices, renegotiating the status quo, and affirming their modern social and religious identity-all important issues for Fourth World peoples living in First World nation-states today. Reburials are powerful social dramas, testimony to the complex historical relationships between and among all concerned, living and dead, indigenous and non-indigenous. I also argue that as Fourth World peoples attempt to renegotiate the status quo by turning to the past and reburying their ancestors, the important role of anthropologists in this effort should be considered in terms of both practice and theory. Because of the combination of heritage/cultural resource management legislation, government regulations, a changing professional ethic in regards to issues of repatriation, anthropologists in all subdisciplines are increasingly involved in the witting and unwitting reproduction of indigenous social orders. The implications of this and its ethical dilemmas for anthropologists working in all the subdisciplines and in varied workplaces are explored. The necessity of working with indigenous communities is underscored and suggestions for working toward a common universal heritage are presented.

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Bioarchaeological Ethics: A Historical Perspective on the Value of Human Remains

Walker

2007

Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton

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The rapidity of technological and cultural change in current times is forcing us to confront a myriad of moral dilemmas over issues as wide ranging as the ethics of cloning humans, the ownership of our genetic material, and the rights of animals relative to those of humans. These ethical issues concern the very nature of what it means to be human and our relationships, not only to other people, but also to the plants and animals that sustain us.The enormous strides we have taken toward human equality during this century mean that formerly disenfranchised and enslaved members of minority groups are beginning to gain power and control over their lives. In many countries there has been a decline in the political dominance and moral authority of organized religions. Notions of multiculturalism and a growing acceptance of the moral principle of not discriminating against people based on gender, ethnicity, or religious beliefs mean that there is no longer a shared set of cultural values we can use for guidance in dealing with moral issues (Cottingham, 1994).This increased tolerance of cultural diversity poses ethical dilemmas because, as the

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The choir invisible: Reflections on the living and the dead

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Corpses, dead body politics and agency in human geography: following the corpse of Dr Petru Groza

Corpses, dead body politics and agency in human geography: following the corpse of Dr Petru Groza

“Who Knows the Power of His Bones”: Reburial Redux

Bioarchaeological Ethics: A Historical Perspective on the Value of Human Remains

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