Living connections : continuing bonds between the living and the deceased in rural Northeastern Slovenia

Kuntarič Zupanc, Simona (avtor)

The article explores the role of plants in mediating ongoing bonds between the living and the deceased. Drawing on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork in a rural region of northeastern Slovenia, this study focuses on three personal narratives where individuals maintain connections with deceased loved ones through plants. These natural objects – daffodils, a blooming cactus and magnolia trees – serve as material manifestations of the deceased, offering comfort, continuity and a sense of presence. Using the continuing bonds grief model (Klass & Silverman & Nickman 1996) as a theoretical foundation, the article examines how these bonds transcend traditional bereavement practices, creating everyday spaces for relational continuity. The article argues that plants act as living bridges between the living and the dead, transforming the understanding of grief into a relational process that fosters enduring connections within broader cultural and natural frameworks.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: ethnology, folklore, flowers, trees, plants, bereavement practices, continuing bonds, the dead, anthropology of death, rural Slovenia
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FF - Filozofska fakulteta
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Datum objave: 01.01.2025
• Leto izida: 2025
• Št. strani: Str. 167-186
• Številčenje: Vol. 96
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-171791
• UDK: 393(439)
• ISSN pri članku: 1406-0957
• DOI: 10.7592/FEJF2025.96.zupanc
• COBISS.SI-ID: 246392835
• Datum objave v RUL: 02.09.2025

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Folklore
• Skrajšan naslov: Folklore
• Založnik: Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum, Estonian Institute of Folklore
• ISSN: 1406-0957
• COBISS.SI-ID: 24169005

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva-Nekomercialno-Brez predelav 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: Najbolj omejujoča licenca Creative Commons. Uporabniki lahko prenesejo in delijo delo v nekomercialne namene in ga ne smejo uporabiti za nobene druge namene.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: etnologija, folkloristika, rože, drevesa, rastline, žalovanje, vez med živimi in mrtvimi, mrtvi, antropologija smrti, Slovenija

Projekti

• Financer: EC - European Commission
• Številka projekta: 101095729
• Naslov: The roles of the agency of the dead in the lives of individuals in contemporary society
• Akronim: DEAGENCY