‘That this too, too solid flesh would melt…’

Abstract

Physical geographers have long shown an interest in necrogeography – the spatial study of human burial practices (especially cemeteries, gravestones, and memorials) – to the extent that their study has informed investigations concerning processes of landscape change, biogeographic developments, or environmental alteration. This paper argues that such contributions can be enhanced if set within the wider study of the commemoration of death. Since the influential work of Philippe Ariès on Western attitudes towards death, scholars have been alerted to the physical implications of cultural changes in burial practices. Alternatively, others have more recently used the concept of the ‘deathscape’ to place such changes within their analyses. The paper concludes that physical geography’s contribution to the study of necrogeography could be enhanced by the adoption of such broader frameworks.

Cemeteries in Transformation - a Swiss Community Conflict Study

“…Increasing urbanization and urban densification have acted as catalysts, influencing shifting attitudes toward death and burial cultures. Thus, recent multidisciplinary research has adopted an expanded, holistic approach, which seeks to understand places of death contextually and as systemically embedded (Nash, 2018). This research trend is exemplified in the modified titles of special issues of academic journals; in 2003, the journal Mortality titled its special issue simply "Cemeteries" (Vol.…”

Shifting values at the cemetery – the artistic interventions of DeathLab

“…However, studying practices can significantly enhance the understanding of population dynamics in general (see Coast et al, 2009;Randall and Koppenhaver, 2004;Strong et al, 2023) and of mortality in particular as well as its embedding in a social context (see Crimmins et al, 2018;Plümecke et al, 2015). In addition, practices and their associated artifacts that facilitate coping with death experiences and memories of the deceased, such as urns and cemeteries, are essential aspects of individual and societal confrontations and practices with mortality, which have connections to population geography considerations (see Nash, 2018).…”

Distancing animal death: Geographies of killing and making killable

“…At the intersection of death geographies and animal geographies, the topic of animal death offers crucial insights for how we understand death and how we define human/nonhuman boundaries. There has been long-standing work in geography on cultural practices surrounding death and dying, and even a special issue in the journal Progress in Physical Geography on 'necrogeography' (Nash, 2018). For instance, work on 'deathscapes' (Maddrell & Sidaway, 2010) seeks to draw attention to the intensely spatial nature of death (Stevenson et al, 2016), focusing on spaces of dying such as cemeteries and hospices (Brown, 2003;Kong, 1999).…”