The Space of Death: A Study of Funerary Architecture, Decoration, and Urbanism

by Michel Ragon, Alan Sheridan (Translator)

Translation copyright 1983 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. First published 1983.

Originally published in 1981 as L'espace de la mort: Essai sur l'architecture, la décoration et l'urbanisme funéraires by Michel Ragon.

(copyright) Editions Albin Michel 1981.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ragon, Michal.
The world of the dead.
Translation of: L'espace de la mort.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Tombs--History. 2. Mausoleums--History. 3. Funeral rites and ceremonies--History. 4. Cemeteries--History. 5. Tombs--France--History. 6. Mausoleums--France--History. 7. Funeral rites and ceremonies--France--History. 8. Cemeteries--France--History.
I. Title.

ISBN 0-8139-0995-3

Genres: Death

328 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because I kept seeing it referenced in the bibliographies of books on cemetery history. The Space of Death is heavy of the theory of cemeteries. Chapters are called "The Vegetal Setting of Death" and "Functionalism and Death," but for the most part, it isn't a dry textbook. I'm not sure if that can be attributed to the author or the translator.

Because it was originally written in French, French cemeteries and their places in French history predominate. Which is fascinating, if you're curious about the Cemetery of the Holy Innocents or Pere Lachaise. It went over the French Revolution and the cycles of execution in such detail that I skipped ahead.

Still, if you have the patience for it, the book is full of material I've read nowhere else. For instance, early Christians were buried nude inside their winding sheets. Churchmen were the first to be buried in their clothes "...no doubt believing it to be more decent." (Did I mention the author's sense of humor?) In the 17th and 18th centuries, monuments in churches ceased to be three dimensional and instead backed against the wall, forcing viewers to stand and look at them from the front, like theater tableaux. Before 1920, rural villages of France had only three approved subjects for public art: the fountain, the crucifix, and the virgin. Only after World War I did memorials to the dead become acceptable.

Overall, this remarkable book was very worth tracking down.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly organized and repetitive. Additionally, several times I doubted the author’s assertions and wanted to know their sources. I am not aware that any reputable American hospitals have organ catalogs patients can shop from nor that we encourage paid donations.