Death, Commemoration, and Cultural Meaning

Robert Spinelli is the archivist for Special Collections at Middle Tennessee State University. Prior to his role there, he worked in the non-profit museum sector and was the former Special Collections Librarian at Fisk University. Mr. Spinelli is also an active researcher in the fields of misinformation and death studies. His first book, The Lizard People Don’t Want You to Read This: Essays on Conspiracy Theories in Popular Culture, will be published by McFarland Publishers in Fall 2025, with his second, Death, Commemoration & Cultural Meaning: Past & Present, due out with Berghahn Books.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Commemoration and Cultural Meaning, Historic and PresentRobert Spinelli and Robyn S. LacyPart I: Archaeological and Historical Examinations of Grief and CommemorationChapter 1. From Etruria to Lisbon: Archaeological Influences and Memory in Three Contemporary Cemeteries (Lisbon, Portugal)Tânia Manuel Casimiro and Joel SantosChapter 2. An Invitation to Mourn: Images of Funerals and Mourners in Funerary Ephemera of Late Eighteenth Century EnglandDan O’BrienChapter 3. Quantifying Trauma: Death, Data, and Memorial CollectingKaylee P. AlexanderChapter 4. Catharín na Leanbh (Village of Children): The Use of Cillíní for the Burial of the Unbaptized in Rural Ireland in the Nineteenth and Twentieth CenturiesCiara HendersonPart II: Contemporary Grief and CommemorationChapter 5. Death, Bodies, Burial, and the Law: The Plight of Non–Federally Recognized Indigenous Groups in the United StatesKatie Stringer Clary, Carolyn Dillian, Acting Chief Cheryl Cail, and Chief Harold “Buster” HatcherChapter 6. Absent Corpses. Violated Bodies: Grief within Violent ContextsEliana ManiaciChapter 7. Commemoration through Absence and Presence at the Oklahoma City MemorialLinda LevittChapter 8. Dying for Change: Community Art, Activism, and the Impact of Visual Public Mourning in Early Queer AIDS ActivismSarah RaynerPart III: Depictions of Commemoration and Grief through the MediaChapter 9. #RIPQueenElizabeth: Collective Mourning and Memorialization of Queen Elizabeth II on TwitterJessica D. Freeman and Jessica EltonChapter 10. Media Depictions of Grief and Grieving: Widows and Widowers in Film and TelevisionAnne F. MacLennanChapter 11. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder? Visual Trends in COVID-19 MemorialsCheyenne ZarembaChapter 12. “Dead Man’s Shoes”: Death, Play, and Distrust in the Elderly EverydayChris FarrellConclusions and Future Paths for Interdisciplinary Death StudiesRobyn S. Lacy and Robert SpinelliIndex