On the construction of death and gender in material culture
On the construction of death and gender in material culture
On the construction of death and gender in material culture
Participants: Prof Dr Karen Ellwanger, Traute Helmers, Prof Dr Heidi Helmhold, Barbara Schrödl
Period: ongoing
Funding: Participating universities, Benediktiner Stift Admont, aeternitas, Board of trustees of German Funeral Culture e.V.
Structure: Workshop "Das 'letzte Hemd" (June 2009), publication (2010), follow-up project in preparation
An interdisciplinary and gender-sensitive analysis of vestimental body images and displays of the dead from the 16th to the 21st century.
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Starting from the premise that clothing makes the body culturally visible, clothing, laying out and visualisation are examined as forms of staging death. The focus is on the production of meaning (state and private), the elaboration of cultural premises as the basis for the staging of death and the special role that textiles play in ritual, communication and power.