Routledge Handbook of Death and the Afterlife

This handbook traces the history of the changing notion of what it means to die and examines the many constructions of afterlife in literature, text, ritual, and material culture throughout time. The Routledge Handbook of Death and the Afterlife is an outstanding reference source to the key topics, problems, and debates in this exciting subject. Comprising twenty-nine chapters by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into three parts and covers the following important themes:The study of dying, death, and griefDisposal of the dead: past, present, and futureRepresentations of death: narratives and rhetoricYouth meets death: a juxtapositionQuestionable deaths and afterlives: suicide, ghosts, and avatarsMaterial corpses and imagined afterlives around the worldWithin these sections, central issues, debates, and problems are examined, including: the world of death and dying from various cultural viewpoints and timeframes, cultural and social constructions of the definition of death, disposal practices, and views of the afterlife.The Routledge Handbook of Death and the Afterlife is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology.