This work is an ethnographic study of funeral directors in Indiana, focusing on the social role they play. Funeral directors, through performances as director and actor, with their living tableaux and focus on the life of the deceased individual, rather than his or her death, offer us the illusion of a modern American ideal—a society with no death. In the face of a great loss, we are reminded how much we depend upon others, which runs contrary to the traditional American concept of the individual. Individualism is so important to us that our funerary ritual, in place for the living, has become a showcase of the deceased’s personality, rather than centering on the needs of the bereaved. An effect of this is that we then struggle to achieve a much needed, visceral connection with our fellow mourners. The funeral director offers us the much needed, shared experience of collective grief in the funeral. And through his production of the funeral, he maintains social solidarity with us by making death the outsider, the ultimate Other. In this way, we are more easily able to process the loss of a loved one without losing our sense of individuality.
","abstract_html":"<p>This work is an ethnographic study of funeral directors in Indiana, focusing on the social role they play. Funeral directors, through performances as director and actor, with their living tableaux and focus on the life of the deceased individual, rather than his or her death, offer us the illusion of a modern American ideal—a society with no death. In the face of a great loss, we are reminded how much we depend upon others, which runs contrary to the traditional American concept of the individual. Individualism is so important to us that our funerary ritual, in place for the living, has become a showcase of the deceased’s personality, rather than centering on the needs of the bereaved. An effect of this is that we then struggle to achieve a much needed, visceral connection with our fellow mourners. The funeral director offers us the much needed, shared experience of collective grief in the funeral. And through his production of the funeral, he maintains social solidarity with us by making death the outsider, the ultimate Other. In this way, we are more easily able to process the loss of a loved one without losing our sense of individuality.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Thamann, Aubrey"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Interdisciplinary Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Susan Curtis","Andrew Buckser","Lance Duerfahrd","Heather Servaty-Seib"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:54:02Z","subjects":["Social sciences","Funeral directors","Indiana","American studies","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/861","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Susan Curtis","Andrew Buckser","Lance Duerfahrd","Heather Servaty-Seib"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Thamann, Aubrey"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Interdisciplinary Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social sciences","Funeral directors","Indiana","American studies","Social and Cultural Anthropology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/861"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This work is an ethnographic study of funeral directors in Indiana, focusing on the social role they play. Funeral directors, through performances as director and actor, with their living tableaux and focus on the life of the deceased individual, rather than his or her death, offer us the illusion of a modern American ideal—a society with no death. In the face of a great loss, we are reminded how much we depend upon others, which runs contrary to the traditional American concept of the individual. Individualism is so important to us that our funerary ritual, in place for the living, has become a showcase of the deceased’s personality, rather than centering on the needs of the bereaved. An effect of this is that we then struggle to achieve a much needed, visceral connection with our fellow mourners. The funeral director offers us the much needed, shared experience of collective grief in the funeral. And through his production of the funeral, he maintains social solidarity with us by making death the outsider, the ultimate Other. In this way, we are more easily able to process the loss of a loved one without losing our sense of individuality.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Crossroads: An interdisciplinary study of funeral directors in Indiana"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Susan Curtis","Andrew Buckser","Lance Duerfahrd","Heather Servaty-Seib"],"dc:creator":["Thamann, Aubrey"],"dc:description.abstract":["This work is an ethnographic study of funeral directors in Indiana, focusing on the social role they play. Funeral directors, through performances as director and actor, with their living tableaux and focus on the life of the deceased individual, rather than his or her death, offer us the illusion of a modern American ideal—a society with no death. In the face of a great loss, we are reminded how much we depend upon others, which runs contrary to the traditional American concept of the individual. Individualism is so important to us that our funerary ritual, in place for the living, has become a showcase of the deceased’s personality, rather than centering on the needs of the bereaved. An effect of this is that we then struggle to achieve a much needed, visceral connection with our fellow mourners. The funeral director offers us the much needed, shared experience of collective grief in the funeral. And through his production of the funeral, he maintains social solidarity with us by making death the outsider, the ultimate Other. In this way, we are more easily able to process the loss of a loved one without losing our sense of individuality.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/861"],"dc:subject":["Social sciences","Funeral directors","Indiana","American studies","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"dc:title":["Crossroads: An interdisciplinary study of funeral directors in Indiana"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Interdisciplinary Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:54:02Z"}