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Death in the New World : Cross-Cultural Encounters, 1492-18 / Erik R. Seeman.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Early American StudiesPublisher: Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2011]Copyright date: ©2010Description: 1 online resource (384 p.) : 28 b/wContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780812242294
  • 9780812206005
Subject(s): Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Introduction: Ways of Dying, Ways of Living -- Chapter 1. Old Worlds of Death -- Chapter 2. First Encounters -- Chapter 3. Burial and Disinterment in the Chesapeake -- Chapter 4. Holy Bones and Beautiful Deaths in New France -- Chapter 5. Grave Missions: Christianizing Death in New England -- Chapter 6. Across the Waters: African American Deathways -- Chapter 7. Crossing Boundaries, Keeping Faith: Jewish Deathways -- Chapter 8. Burial and Condolence in the Seven Years' War -- Conclusion: Ways of Living, Ways of Dying -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments
Summary: Reminders of death were everywhere in the New World, from the epidemics that devastated Indian populations and the mortality of slaves working the Caribbean sugar cane fields to the unfamiliar diseases that afflicted Europeans in the Chesapeake and West Indies. According to historian Erik R. Seeman, when Indians, Africans, and Europeans encountered one another, they could not ignore the similarities in their approaches to death. All of these groups believed in an afterlife to which the soul or spirit traveled after death. As a result all felt that corpses-the earthly vessels for the soul or spirit-should be treated with respect, and all mourned the dead with commemorative rituals. Seeman argues that deathways facilitated communication among peoples otherwise divided by language and custom. They observed, asked questions about, and sometimes even participated in their counterparts' rituals.At the same time, insofar as New World interactions were largely exploitative, the communication facilitated by parallel deathways was often used to influence or gain advantage over one's rivals. In Virginia, for example, John Smith used his knowledge of Powhatan deathways to impress the local Indians with his abilities as a healer as part of his campaign to demonstrate the superiority of English culture. Likewise, in the 1610-1614 war between Indians and English, the Powhatans mutilated English corpses because they knew this act would horrify their enemies.Told in a series of engrossing narratives, Death in the New World is a landmark study that offers a fresh perspective on the dynamics of cross-cultural encounters and their larger ramifications in the Atlantic world.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780812206005

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Introduction: Ways of Dying, Ways of Living -- Chapter 1. Old Worlds of Death -- Chapter 2. First Encounters -- Chapter 3. Burial and Disinterment in the Chesapeake -- Chapter 4. Holy Bones and Beautiful Deaths in New France -- Chapter 5. Grave Missions: Christianizing Death in New England -- Chapter 6. Across the Waters: African American Deathways -- Chapter 7. Crossing Boundaries, Keeping Faith: Jewish Deathways -- Chapter 8. Burial and Condolence in the Seven Years' War -- Conclusion: Ways of Living, Ways of Dying -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Reminders of death were everywhere in the New World, from the epidemics that devastated Indian populations and the mortality of slaves working the Caribbean sugar cane fields to the unfamiliar diseases that afflicted Europeans in the Chesapeake and West Indies. According to historian Erik R. Seeman, when Indians, Africans, and Europeans encountered one another, they could not ignore the similarities in their approaches to death. All of these groups believed in an afterlife to which the soul or spirit traveled after death. As a result all felt that corpses-the earthly vessels for the soul or spirit-should be treated with respect, and all mourned the dead with commemorative rituals. Seeman argues that deathways facilitated communication among peoples otherwise divided by language and custom. They observed, asked questions about, and sometimes even participated in their counterparts' rituals.At the same time, insofar as New World interactions were largely exploitative, the communication facilitated by parallel deathways was often used to influence or gain advantage over one's rivals. In Virginia, for example, John Smith used his knowledge of Powhatan deathways to impress the local Indians with his abilities as a healer as part of his campaign to demonstrate the superiority of English culture. Likewise, in the 1610-1614 war between Indians and English, the Powhatans mutilated English corpses because they knew this act would horrify their enemies.Told in a series of engrossing narratives, Death in the New World is a landmark study that offers a fresh perspective on the dynamics of cross-cultural encounters and their larger ramifications in the Atlantic world.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2022)