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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BRC.10170/374 |
| Date | 16 September 2010 |
| Creators | Brooks, Patrick J. |
| Contributors | Vannini, Phillip |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Detected Language | English |
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