The Culture and Art of Death in 19th Century America

by D Tulla Lightfoot

Nineteenth-century Victorian-era mourning rituals--long and elaborate public funerals, the wearing of lavishly somber mourning clothes, and families posing for portraits with deceased loved ones--are often depicted as bizarre or scary. But behind many such customs were rational or spiritual meanings. This book offers an in-depth explanation at how death affected American society and the creative ways in which people responded to it. The author discusses such topics as mediums as performance artists and postmortem painters and photographers, and draws a connection between death and the emergence of three-dimensional media.

266 pages, Paperback

Published March 11, 2019

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely stunning collection of topics to read up on. There are so many aspects of "death culture" which I never would have known were a thing, would never have even considered, if not for them being touched on here. It's truly a wealth of knowledge with gobs of resources. I really highly recommend it for anyone that's interested in a bit of morbid history, or just really enjoys fun facts about lesser-explored subjects. Eye-opening and fascinating in general, it's a really good time.

The only trouble is - and this is just a pet peeve of mine - is that I'm not sure this was really touched by an editor, or even thoroughly proofread. Inconsistencies in whether numbers are written as words or the actual numbers themselves, accidental plurals, and even bibliographic sources that'd be italicized in one instance and non-italicezed in the next... It doesn't take away from the fact that this book was obviously phenomenally researched. It just became really distracting and took me out of the subject matter on tons of occasions.

[Susan T Bartko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definitive definition of Death, the culture and art of the 19th century

Fascinating and informative, I was transported back in time to a greater understanding of death and the many facets of life and culture influences as a new generation came of age in an illuminated communications environment . The world was growing and more socially aware of the significance of death , in all its new influences both social and economically driven. This book takes the many facets of American life (and death) and its particular influence on the public, at a very interesting period of history. A must read for those interested in this subject!