Knowing+death+differently+Green+burial

Constantino, Christopher. "Death Studies." //Taylor and Francis Online//. Taylor & Francis, 12 Oct. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

Christopher Constantino reviews a book by Suzanne Kelly on how burial practices have changed. Kelly begins by speaking on the start of the 19th century in which humans had problems with overcrowding in cemeteries as well as pungent smells of decomposition. The turn of the 19th century was when they began to move cemetery’s outside of cities. This relocation was ideal to support more bodies and to keep the smell away from cities. The next big change came during the civil war which caused bodies to become embalmed to move across the country. During the start of the 20th-century, death began to move from the home to the hospital which also gave rise to the professional practices of funeral homes and their standardization. Kelly points out death has become a pollutant.

This article fills a niche role in my paper by providing insight into the timeline of how we care for the dead. It recounts and explains the reasoning behind many modern burial practices and where they fall chronologically. Not only this, the article, touches on how bodies have become pollutants. Kelly also talks about the meanings behind death and why these meanings have helped the growth of green burials. All of these aspects will help my reader understand my overall question of “What has caused the increase of green burial practices?”. The beginning of different trends in chronological order helps my reader why burials practices exist the way they do today. With touching on body’s becoming pollutants, it helps my reader further understand the shifting attitude towards green burials.