Death and Dying in Central Appalachia: Changing Attitudes and Practices

Front Cover
University of Illinois Press, 1994 - 247 pages
James Crissman explores cultural traits related to death and dying in Appalachian sections of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia, showing how they have changed since the 1600s. Relying on archival materials, almost forty photographs, and interviews with more than 400 mountain dwellers, Crissman focuses on the importance of family and "neighborliness" in mountain society.

Written for both scholarly and general audiences, the book contains sections on the death watch, body preparation, selection or construction of a coffin or casket, digging the grave by hand, the wake, the funeral, and other topics. Crissman then demonstrates how technology and the encroachment of American society have turned these vital traditions into the disappearing practices of the past.

From inside the book

Contents

Introduction
Familism Neighborliness and the Death Watch
7
Preparation of the Body
20
Burial Receptacles and Grave Digging
40
The Wake
64
The Funeral Service
75
Burial Customs
97
Grave Markers and Other Forms of Memorialization
116
Funeralizing and Memorial Traditions
143
Dying Death and Central Appalachian Music
154
Mining Disasters and Death
181
Summary
198
Notes
207
Bibliography
231
Index
243
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