The concept of ritual meaning provides us with another way of understanding funeral preparation and performance. We will examine the process of meaning-making, as briefly hinted upon in the introduction, and we will also study the content of personalised funerals that emerges from this process. Again, the framework of mapping ritual elements has been adjusted to the particular re-search questions involved (Figure 3.1).
1.1 The meaning-making process
Meaning-making is a fundamental aspect in the arrangement, the performance, and the aftermath of the funeral. By creating a ‘meaningful’ funeral, the be-reaved are managing the transition to a new relationship with their departed loved one. Studying meaning-making in funerals, Holloway et al. observed a three-stage process whereby meaning is brought about: meaning-seeking, mean-ing-creating, and meaning-taking (2013, 44–46; Neimeyer 2001). The bereaved seek meaning by making particular choices during the preparation of the funeral in order to celebrate and convey the essence of the life of the deceased, and to manage their changing relationship with the deceased. The choices made by the bereaved are facilitated by the funeral directors and/or the ritual experts, and translate into the performance of the ceremony. Through this process of co-creation (cf. Kelly 2008, 66), the choices of the family are not only operational-ised, but also lifted to a higher level of symbolic meaning (Turner 1973). This, for instance, occurs by giving voice to beliefs, by creating a sense of immortali-ty, or by expressing ongoing relationships between the living and the dead.
Lastly, after the funeral, the bereaved reflect upon the things that they have tak-en away from the ceremony, things that have betak-en meaningful to them.
It must be briefly noted that the boundaries between these three facets of meaning-making are not always clear. The bereaved, for instance, also take meaning from the funeral preparations, and seek meaning in the period of be-
reavement. At the same time, meaning-taking can be prevented during the prep-arations and the performance of the funeral itself, as people are often ambigu-ously aware and numb towards all that is happening.
1.2 Situational belief, symbolic immortality & continuing bonds
The funeral’s structure and meaning emerge as a result of meaning-seeking and meaning-creating. In the funeral, meaning can be expressed in, and can be taken from, a variety of situational beliefs. Such beliefs are shaped in diverse symbol-ic forms – like images, narratives, mussymbol-ic, and people – in view of the context and situation at hand. The expression of situational beliefs can thus be under-stood as an outcome of the process of making sense of life and death. Situation-al beliefs, hence, are, in the understanding that meaning can be taken from them, secondary to meaning-making itself. In the process of meaning-making, some meanings become dominant and are expressed as situational beliefs through ritual symbols, whereas other meanings remain hidden (Turner 1973).
In light of our key concepts, we will look at two types of situational beliefs in this chapter: expressions of symbolic immortality and notions of continuing bonds. Thereby, we will focus on the care that is given to the body of the de-ceased, the funeral arrangements, and the funeral ceremony.
1.3 Research questions
In terms of ritual meaning, we are thus interested in the meaning-making pro-cess and in the structure and meaning of situational beliefs. In relation to the care that is given to the body of the deceased during the week of the funeral preparations, we will examine what ritual actions surrounding the dead body
ACTIONS
ACTORS MEANING
Context 1:
Changing role of religion
Context 2:
Individualisation
Context 3:
Cremation
RITUAL
FIGURE 3.1 ELEMENTS OF RITUAL, BASED ON RONALD GRIMES
can reveal about the meaning-making of the bereaved, and of funeral profes-sionals. Considering the preparation of the funeral ceremony, we will study what the choices of the bereaved, specifically the motives underlying their choices, can reveal about the meaning they are seeking in the funeral.2 Further-more, we will explore what types of meaning should be expressed in the ritual actions of the funeral, according to the bereaved. Regarding the funeral perfor-mance, we will draw attention to the purpose and function of the funeral cere-mony. Moreover, we are interested in the ways wherein the purpose and func-tion of the funeral are translated to, and expressed in, the ritual structure and content of the ceremony.
2 Methods
As in the previous chapter, the mapping of funeral preparations and funeral per-formances is based on our participant observations, observations of funeral cer-emonies, interviews with ritual experts, interviews with recently bereaved peo-ple, and the survey research carried out among the recently bereaved. The re-sults from different methods provide different perspectives on the ritual perfor-mance. As we have already discussed our qualitative methods in the introduc-tion, we will only draw attention here to the measurement instruments and data analysis concerning our quantitative study.
2.1 Measurement instruments and data analysis
In relation to the survey research, some remarks must be made regarding the measurement instruments and data analysis. Based on our participant observa-tions, we formulated nine motives that could have influenced the choices of the bereaved during the funeral arrangements. We asked our respondents to indicate to what extent they felt these motives played a role using a five-point system (1=not at all, 5=very much). After examining the overall motives of respond-ents, we conducted bivariate analyses between social-religious characteristics and religious motives to further explore differences in terms of religious affilia-tion and religiosity.
2 We should question whether people really seek meaning in the process of funeralising, and in the funeral itself. During our participant observations of funeral arrangements, this was not explicitly and consciously mentioned or reflected upon. The funeral process is not only a period wherein people create ritual elements, but it is also a period of transition that people undergo. Still, however, we could observe various motivations, values, purposes, and beliefs behind practices. Also, people expressed concerns regarding a meaningful, beau-tiful, or fitting funeral in view of themselves and, moreover, in view of others. Therefore, we argue that the question of how people seek meaning in the funeral process is highly relevant.
Second, as we were interested in the meanings that the dearest and nearest be-reaved wished to express during their funerals, we included statements in the questionnaire regarding the meaning of the funeral itself. Grounded in our qualitative fieldwork, we thereby focused on the identity of the deceased and the meaning of the deceased in a broader sense. Three statements were included that referred to the celebration of the life of the deceased, three statements that emphasised the meaning of the life of the deceased in a social sense, and three statements that pointed to the meaning of the deceased’s life in a transcendent sense, expressing hope, faith, and the faith of the deceased. Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the statements (1=totally disagree, 5=totally agree). In terms of data analysis, we conducted a factor anal-ysis (appendix F) to explore what types of meaning can be distinguished in fu-nerals and to examine to what extent people identified with these types of mean-ing. Lastly, we conducted bivariate analyses between the dimensions that could be distinguished in the factor analysis and some pe sonal and funeral character-istics, in order to explore the variation in attitudes towards meaning in funerals among the bereaved. 3