Mirrors of Passing : Unlocking the Mysteries of Death, Materiality, and Time

Without exception, all people are faced with the inevitability of death, a stark fact that has immeasurably shaped societies and individual consciousness for the whole of human history. __Mirrors of Passing__ offers a powerful window into this oldest of human preoccupations by investigating the interrelationships of death, materiality, and temporality across far-flung times and places. Stretching as far back as Ancient Egypt and Greece and moving through present-day locales as diverse as Western Europe, Central Asia, and the Arctic, each of the richly illustrated essays collected here draw on a range of disciplinary insights to explore some of the most fundamental, universal questions that confront us. Without Exception, All People Are Faced With The Inevitability Of Death, A Stark Fact That Has Immeasurably Shaped Societies And Individual Consciousness For The Whole Of Human History. Mirrors Of Passing Offers A Powerful Window Into This Oldest Of Human Preoccupations By Investigating The Interrelationships Of Death, Materiality, And Temporality Across Far-flung Times And Places. Stretching As Far Back As Ancient Egypt And Greece And Moving Through Present-day Locales As Diverse As Western Europe, Central Asia, And The Arctic, Each Of The Richly Illustrated Essays Collected Here Draw On A Range Of Disciplinary Insights To Explore Some Of The Most Fundamental, Universal Questions That Confront Us-- The Time Of The Dead : Anthropology, Literature, And The Virtual Past / Stuart Mclean -- Orpheus In Love, Death, And Time / Marina Prusac-lindhagen -- Death Before Time : Mythical Time In Ancient Egyptian Mortuary Religion / Rune Nyord -- When Bad Places Turn Worse : The Necropolitics Of Death Sites In Northern Kwazulu-natal, South Africa / Per Ditlef Fredriksen -- Narratives Of Ebola : Temporal & Material Changes Of Social Riverscapes / Theresa Ammann -- Saving The Dead : Fighting For Life In The Siberian North / Rane Willerslev & Jeanette Lykkegaard -- Death, Rebirth, Objects, And Time In North American Traditional Inuit Societies : An Overview / Matthew J. Walsh And Sean O'neill -- Transforming And Creating Multiple Worlds : Strange Attractors In The Mongolian Landscape / Malthe Lehrmann -- The Dead Among The Living : Materiality And Time In Rethinking Death And Otherness In Lowland South America / Clarissa Martins Lima And Felipe Vander Velden -- Making Presence : Time Work And Narratives In Bereaved Parents' Online Grief Work / Dorthe Refslund Christensen And Kjetil Sandvik -- The Multiple Identities Of Aslak Hætta And Mons Somby : The Case Of The Sami Skulls / Susan Matland -- Media, Ritual, And Immortality : The Case Of A Masculine Hero / Johanna Sumiala -- The Temporality And Materiality Of Life And Death In A Sepik Village / Christiane Falck -- The Wonderful Exhibition That Almost Was / Alexandra Schössler. Edited By Sophie Seebach And Rane Willerslev. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents Illustrations Introduction. Mirrors of Passing Part I. Death’s Time Chapter 1. The Time of the Dead: Anthropology, Literature, and the Virtual Past Chapter 2. Orpheus in Love, Death, and Time Chapter 3. Death before Time: Mythical Time in Ancient Egyptian Mortuary Religion Chapter 4. When Bad Places Turn Worse: The Necropolitics of Death Sites in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Chapter 5. Narratives of Ebola: Temporal and Material Changes of Social Riverscapes Part II. Materialities of Death Chapter 6. “Saving the Dead”: Fighting for Life in the Siberian North Chapter 7. Death, Rebirth, Objects, and Time in North American Traditional Inuit Societies: An Overview Chapter 8. Transforming and Creating Multiple Worlds: Strange Attractors in the Mongolian Landscape Chapter 9. The Dead among the Living: Materiality and Time in Rethinking Death and Otherness in Lowland South America Part III. Life after Death Chapter 10. Making Presence: Time Work and Narratives in Bereaved Parents’ Online Grief Work Chapter 11. The Multiple Identities of Aslak Hætta and Mons Somby: The Case of the Sámi Skulls Chapter 12. Media, Ritual, and Immortality: The Case of a Masculine Hero Chapter 13. The Temporality and Materiality of Life and Death in a Sepik Village Part IV. Exhibiting Death, Materiality, and Time Chapter 14. The Wonderful Exhibition That Almost Was Index Mirrors of Passing explores the relationship between death, materiality, and temporality, drawing from the fields of archaeology, cultural anthropology, political science, and media studies to explore fundamental questions about the relationship between death and our perception of time.