Tsikkos, Constantinos;
(2007)
The management of death in changing times: the Nicosia experience of continuity and death.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
Abstract
This thesis presents the ways with which the Greek Cypriot inhabitants of Nicosia manage and comprehend death in their everyday lives. Throughout I show how, with various practices, Nicosians manage to deal with loss, handle the dead body (practices of the body), and continue the important relationship between living and dead members of the family (practices of the soul). While discussing changes that occur in the death attitudes and death practices, I also examine a changing society, and how people manage to negotiate these changes. As I show, Members of the society introduce to the island new information regarding death management, and when this new information is combined with the existing native information, change is imminent. This process of combining the 'old' with the 'new' is thoroughly analysed in an attempt to show how Nicosians today successfully transcend binaries such as 'tradition' and 'modernity', 'past' and 'future'. As I show throughout the thesis, a discussion on 'tradition' and 'modernity' is relevant as Nicosians choose to handle their changing social conditions, especially the changes occurring in relations to dying, by challenging or negotiating these two terms. Changes are handled with the procedure of 'adjusting continuities', a notion that refers to things that are modified through time, adjusting themselves in new social environments. An attitude, a belief, or a practice handled by adjusting continuities can be seen as the adjustment of older structures (native held knowledge) into contemporary ones (changed/adjusted native knowledge) that better suit the present life environment. Therefore 'tradition' in death management cannot be viewed as 'modernity's' past, or the latter's contrasting condition, but as old structures in a continuous adjustment procedure an attempt of the 'old' to fit and continue to be relevant in today's lifestyle.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | The management of death in changing times: the Nicosia experience of continuity and death |
| Identifier: | PQ ETD:591892 |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444584 |
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