Dying to be seen : an interpretive study of porcelain portraits on grave markers

This article explores the roles that porcelain portraits on grave markers play in identity construction and performance. Through semi-structured interviews, the biographies of five individuals are examined and then compared to determine norms or differences regarding their views on sepulchral photographs as a form of memorialization. While the decision to display a gravestone portrait could simply be a long-standing cultural practice, this interpretivist study indicates that the role of photo-tombstones is negotiated through a hybridization process involving religious syncretism, cultural convergence, or familial expectations. The role of photography as material culture is also examined, both as a metonymic replacement for the deceased and for its links to memory recall and remembrance.

Author dc:creator

• Brooks, Patrick J.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Vannini, Phillip

• Sepulchral monuments
• Portrait photography
• Photographs on porcelain
• Memorialization
• Cultural fusion and the arts
• Syncretism (Religion)
• Identity (Psychology)
• Interviews (Research methodology)

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10170/374

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.viurrspace.ca/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Anull%3A10170%2F374