Burning Bodies: Religion, Race, and Migrant Funerary Practices in the Early 20th-Century Pacific West
This article explores the complex intersections of religion and bodies through the lens of Sikh migrant cremations in the early 20th century Pacific West. Sampling English-language from 1900 to 1920, it highlights how racial and civilizational biases shaped discourses on open-pyre migrant cremations...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2025, Volume: 64, Issue: 4, Pages: 375-384 |
| Further subjects: | B
Lived Religion
B Newspapers B sikh migrants B dead bodies B Cremations |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article explores the complex intersections of religion and bodies through the lens of Sikh migrant cremations in the early 20th century Pacific West. Sampling English-language from 1900 to 1920, it highlights how racial and civilizational biases shaped discourses on open-pyre migrant cremations, even as cremation was gaining acceptance among white settler groups in the United States and Canada. Reading the news reports critically, the essay spotlights migrants’ efforts to confer dignity on the dead under adverse social and political circumstances by enacting Sikhism's essential tenets. By examining Sikh cremations, the article emphasizes not only the importance of including migrant bodies and experiences but also the need to decolonize and diversify histories of cremation in the United States and Canada. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12950 |
