“From house to funeral home” : changes in funeral rituals in rural Slovakia

Uhrin, Michal (avtor)

This paper examines how the introduction of death-related buildings, such as the funeral home in rural Slovakia, alters the ways and frequency of contact with the dead body and, in turn, influences the course and certain aspects of funeral rituals. It presents a case study based on long-term ethnographic research, analysing data collected over three years in a village in the Horehronie region of the Slovak Republic with a predominantly Roman Catholic population. Through analysis of ethnographic data, the study argues that the establishment of the funeral home and the related shift in the space where the body is kept before the funeral changed the course and some elements of funeral rituals. The funeral home not only serves an essential function in the funeral process but can also gradually become a space and symbol associated with the dead, death, and the afterlife; it also embodies and reflects religious beliefs and norms that can shape both collective and individual behaviours and emotional states.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: ethnology, anthropology of death, funeral rituals, transformation, funerals, funeral home, death, Slovakia
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FF - Filozofska fakulteta
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Datum objave: 30.06.2026
• Leto izida: 2026
• Št. strani: Str. 91-113
• Številčenje: Vol. 85, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185640
• UDK: 393(437.6)
• ISSN pri članku: 1211-8117
• DOI: 10.59618/NV.2026.1.05
• COBISS.SI-ID: 287794947
• Datum objave v RUL: 14.08.2026

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Národopisný věstník : ethnographic journal
• Skrajšan naslov: Národop. věstn.
• Založnik: Národopisná společnost, Česká národopisná společnost z.s.
• ISSN: 1211-8117
• COBISS.SI-ID: 283150595

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, antropologija smrti, pogrebni rituali, pogrebi, mrliške vežice, smrt, Slovaška

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

• Financer: Drugi - Drug financer ali več financerjev
• Program financ.: VEGA - Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Številka projekta: 1/0724/23
• Naslov: Conspirituality: The Blending of Supernatural and Conspiracy Explanations