Benkel, Thorsten/Thomas Klie/Matthias Meitzler
Enchantment

Ashes, Diamonds and the Transformation of Funeral Culture. Translated from the German by Joseph A. Smith.

The culture of burial and mourning is presently in a state of flux. The idea of using the cremated remains of loved ones to form jewelry no longer belongs to the realm of science fiction but has become a fact of modern life. How do such 'ash diamonds' figure into the mourning process? How do relatives deal with this phenomenon? What is the role of esthetics? How does the social environment react to this 'metamorphosis'? And does this represent the renewal of the idea of relics? This book is based on interviews held with persons who decided to go this route of remembering their deceased loved ones. The authors also visited the production facilities of these precious stones, talked with experts about the process, and attended the delivery rituals. 238 Seiten mit 40 Abb., broschiert (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2020) leichte Lagerspuren/minor shelfwear