The Final Programme of Dying and Death in 18th-21srt centuries Europe, International Conference, second edition

Conference Programme:

Thursday, 24 September

20:00 Diner „1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia Restaurant
Friday, 25 September

8:00: Breakfast: Hotel Parc, Alba Iulia; „1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia Restaurant

10:30: Opening Ceremony: Union Hall, National Museum of Unification

Moise Ioan Achim, President of „1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia
Gabriel Rustoiu, Director of National Museum of Unification
Local Authorities, Sponsors
Peter C. Jupp – University of Durham, UK
Tony Walter - University of Bath, UK
Victor Tudor Rosu - National Museum of Unification
Marius Rotar - „1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia

12:00: The varnishing day of „Beliefs and Funerary Rites in Apulum: Homes for the World Beyond" exhibition organized by The Systemic Archaeology Institute (IAS - director PhD. Mihai Gligor), "1 Decembrie 1918" University of Alba Iulia

13:00: Lunch Pub13

15:00: Cemeteries and their destiny (chair: Peter C. Jupp)
Location: Apor Palace, “1 Decembrie 1918” University
15:00- 15:30 Julie Rugg (UK), Towards a new social history of rural churchyards
15:30-16:00 Mihaela Grancea (Romania), Une courte histoire de l’historiographie de l’épitaphe
16:00-16:30 Mihai Burlacu (Romania), Cemeteries' destiny in the istro-romanian villages - An anthropological viewpoint

16:30 Coffee break

16:45: Cremation and scaterring the ashes (chair Julie Rugg)
Location: Apor Palace, “1 Decembrie 1918” University

16:45-17:15 Peter C. Jupp (UK), Ethics of Cremation
17:15-17:45 Mirjam Klaassens and Peter Groote (The Netherlands), Contemporary Dutch crematoria; their sense of place
17:45-18:15 Marius Rotar, Cosmin Bodrean (Romania), Point of No Return: Proposal for a Romanian Cremation Association (AMURG)
18:15-18:45 Emile Jaworski (France – Polland), Cremation and post-modernity: the case of Polish society
18:45-19:15 Lajos Hodi (Hungary), Szeged crematorium - past, present and future

19:30: Dinner: „1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia Restaurant
Saturday, 26 september 2009

8:00 Breakfast:
Hotel Parc, Alba Iulia
„1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia Restaurant

9:00 Religion and the meaning of Death (chair Helen Frisby):
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

9:00-9:30 D. Vanca (Romania), Liturgy of funerals in The Orthodox Church at the end of 17th and beginning of 18th century, reflected into the first Romanian printed books
9:30-10:00 Corneliu Simut (Romania), Understanding Death in the 21st Century: Vito Mancuso and His Re-Assessment of the Christian Teaching on Death from the Perspective of Man's Historical Experience

10:00: History of Death (chair: Joanna Wojtkowiak )
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

10:00-10:15 Radu Ota, Representations of Thanatos in the funerary iconography from Apulum
10:15-10:45 Serban Anghelescu (Romania), Mourir en Ilyada
10:45-11:15 Mircea Cristea (Romania), Le Poison et la mort dans l'alchime medieval europeean
11:15-11:45 Silvia Marin (Romania), Accompagner Saint Christophe, le protecteur contre «la male mort». Des thèmes eschatologiques dans l'iconographie occidentale et roumaine

11:45 Coffee break

12:00: History of Death (chair: Joanna Wojtkowiak )
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

12:00-12:30 Natasha Mihailovic (UK), Living with the Dead: Burial Places in English Towns c.1700-1840
12:30-13:00 Cristina Bogdan (Romania), La Roue de la Vie mène à la Mort. Parcours d'un thème iconographique dans l'espace roumain et bulgaire (XVIIe-XIXe siècles)
13:00-13:30 Nicu Mihai (Romania), Mourir pour sa patrie: la « culture révolutionnaire » de la mort en Europe de l’Est au milieu du XIXe siècle

13:30 Lunch: Pub13

15:00 History of Death II (chair Nicu Mihai)
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

15:00-15:30 Olga Gradinaru (Romania), The Russian Path from Corpse to Relic – A History of the Russian Orthodox Relic Cult
15:30-16:00 Aleksandra Vuletic (Serbia), Infanticide – between private and public concern in Serbia c.1800-c.1860
16:00-16:30 Helen Frisby (UK), ‘These horrid superstitions’: death and dying amongst the English ‘folk’, c.1840-c.1914
16:30-17:00 Constantin Mihai (Romania), Martyrical death in the Romanian communist reclusion

17:00 Coffee break

17:15 Place of dead, rites of death (chair Natasha Mihailovic)
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

17:15-17:45 Laura Pop (Romania), Traditional in after funeral commemorations of the death in the XX century in some rural communities from central area of Transylvania (Romania)
17:45-18:15 Joanna Wojtkowiak & Janneke Peelen(The Netherlands), Preserving social existence of the dead: the importance of ritual
18:15-18:45 Hanna J. Rumble (UK), 'Woodland Burial: a contemporary burial innovation in Britain'
18:45-19:15 Sarah Mezaguer (France), Les représentations dramatisées de la mort

20:00: Official Reception: Bucerdea Vinoasa
Sunday, 27 September
9:40: Meeting of Romanian participants for organizing RADS
10:00: Place of dead, rites of death (chair Hanna Rumble)
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

10:00-10:30 Ann Malamah-Thomas (UK), Adapting to Loss: Do Nations Grieve?
10:30-11:00 Tony Walter (UK), Why different countries do death differently: a comparison of modern urban societies

11:00 Coffee break

11:15-11:45 Anna Kubiak (Poland), The social memoralization of death on the Web
11:45-12:15 Aleksandra Pavicevic (Serbia), Welcoming Dead. Bringing and caring through famous deceased. Case of Serbia

12:15-13:00 Visiting the National Museum of Unification

13: Lunch Pub13

15:00 Culture and Death (chair Tony Walter)
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

15:00-15:30 M. Comsa (Romania), Meurtre et suicide dans les récits de l’écrivain québécois Hubert Aquin
15:30-16:00 Andrada Fatu (Romania), Opiates and Representations of Death
16:00-16:30 Victor Tudor Rosu (Romania), Death Mirrors of La Grande Guerre in Interwar French Films
16:30-17:00 Adriana Teodorescu (Romania), Les masques. Aspects de l'imaginaire actuel de la mort
17:00-17:30 Florina Codreanu (Romania), Irrelevance of Death in Postmodern Era

17:30 Coffee break

17:45 Conclusions
Location: Lecture Room, National Museum of Unification

Tony Walter
Peter C. Jupp
Helen Frisby
Victor Tudor Rosu
Marius Rotar

19:00 Dinner Pub 13

News

1. Tomorrow the final programme of Dying and Death in 18th-21srt centuries Europe International Conference, second edition will be posting on this blogspot.
2. On Tuesday at 11 a.m. press news about the conference at National Museum of Unification. Alba Iulia
3. A "profile" of my friend and my partner Cosmin Bodrean can be found on: http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/hunedoara-portret-cosmin-bodrean-a-deschis-primul-cimitir-privat.html
AMURG. Romanian Cremation Association is our commun idea!

News

1. Due to some problems upon the reservations at Hotel Parc in Alba Iulia we needed to change the accomodation place for some of the participants. So, some of them will have the accomodation at the "1 Decembrie 1918" University of Alba Iulia Hotel. I will send mails informing the conference's participants about this new situation. It's about double hotel rooms having 2 stars +, 2 bed, bathroom and TV. I'm sorry for this inconvenience!
2. On Saturday the final programme of the conference will be done and I will post it on this blogspot.
3. I think on Tuesday we will organize a press news at the National Museum of Unification about the conference.

at home ... again

1. I came back from Durham to Alba Iulia. I missed my family and Romania, too but attending at DDD9 conference it was a great experience for me. I presented my paper and I had 5 or 6 questions. I hope I gave good answers at these. Generally speaking participants attending at DDD9 were interested in my topic and in Dying and Death in 18th-21st... International Conference. Many of them expressed their wishes to come to Romania for next year edition of the conference. Also, I proposed to the leading of ASDS to organize DDD10 in Romania in 2011.

2. I visited Durham crematorium and thanks to Julie Rugg I had seen the furnaces chamber. For the first time in my life I saw a burning dead body. I confess I was afraid by this moment but I got through this final test of mine and now I'm sure 200% I'm a cremationist.

3. Some changed title for Dying and Death... Conference:

Hanna J. Rumble (UK), 'Woodland Burial: a contemporary burial innovation in Britain'

Silvia Marin (Romania), Accompagner Saint Christophe, le protecteur contre «la male mort». Des thèmes eschatologiques dans l'iconographie occidentale et roumaine

4. On the occasion of Dying and Death.... Conference I think it's the proper time for organizing a Romanian Association for Death Studies (RADS). I propose this to all the romanian participants at the conference.

5. Today I received from Romanian Minister of Justice the approval of Amurg. Romanian Cremation Association. This is a great news for all the adepts of cremation in Romania and a historical time for development of this practice of the disposal of the body in Romania! Warning: this is not a joke - BE PREPARED TO BE PULVERIZED!

6. A "profile" of Victor Tudor Rosu, one of the co-organizers of Dying and Death... Conference can be found on http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/alba-iulia-tudor-rosu-este-un-istoric-pentru-care-pasiunea-si-studiul-merg-mana-in-mana.html
Tudor Rosu is one of my best friends and the hugest Elvis Presley's fan between the romanian historians! Congratulations!

1. Last week I received by mail the final programme of DDD9 conference which will be held at Durham University, UK between 9-12 of September 2009. Looking inside of it I didn't find out the name of Adela Toplean. Therefore I believe I am again the only romanian attending at this conference. I'm very sorry for this! I will be gone to Durham this evening.
2. After participants' rates at Alcoholism: Historical and Social Issues International Conference Patrick Dimitros Akrivos (Greece)'s paper was declared the best paper/presentation. Congratulations Patrick!

WHO AM I?

The local version of Adevarul (The Truth) newspaper published yesterday a "profile" of mine. Unfortunately, this paper is written in romanian language: http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/alba-iulia-portert-marius-rotar-a-scris-prima-lucrare-istorica-dedicata-mortii.html

News

1. Unfortunately, Denis Cettour (France) cannot attend at the Dying and Death conference due his own personal problems.

2. Here there are two new participants at this conference and their papers' titles:

Mihai Burlacu (Romania), Cemeteries' destiny in the istro-romanian villages - An anthropological viewpoint

Lajos Hodi (Hungary), Szeged crematorium - past, present and future

Mr. Hodi is the former director of this hungarian crematorium.

3. I changed the topic of my paper for Dying and Death conference:

Marius Rotar, Cosmin Bodrean (Romania), Point of no Return: Proposal for a Romanian Cremation Association (Amurg)

4. My collegues from The Systemic Arhchaeology Institute (IAS - director PhD. Mihai Gligor), "1 Decembrie 1918" University of Alba Iulia in collaboration with National Museum of Unification will organize an exhibition entitled "Beliefs and Funerary Rites in Apulum: Homes for World Beyond". Although it's about an independent event from Dying and Death Conference the varnishing day of this exhibition will take place on 25th of september 2009 after opening ceremony of the Conference because, in the issue, it's about the same topic: death and imaginary of death! Apulum is one of the ancient names of Alba Iulia town.

4. Today I sent to the Romanian Minister of Justice the requirement for the approval of the Amurg. Romanian Cremation Association. So, we are in the bee line with our planns for development of cremation in Romania. For time being it's for real: Be prepared to be pulverized!

5. It will be two romanians attending at DDD9 conference in Durham, UK next week: Adela Toplean from Bucharest and myself! I hope we will make a good team over there!

6. A very good reflection of Alcoholism: Historical and Social Issues International Conference can be found on http://www.realitateaalba.ro/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7291:ALCOLISM-ISTORIC-Istorici--sociologi--psihologi--medici-şi-preoţi-din-10-ţări-participă-la-Alba-Iulia-la-un-simpozion-internaţional-care-are-ca-temă-alcoolismul--_2009-08-28-19-15-35&catid=12:social&Itemid=13
(Hasso Spode, Frantz Floyd, Iulian Negru, myself and Victor Tudor Rosu speaking about Alcoholism: Historical and Social Issues International Conference).

Many thanks Ink Usitor for this information!

My abstract for DDD9, Durham, UK, 9-12 of September 2009

Death and Cremation in Communist Romania


This paper aims to analyze the place of the cremation into the death system of communist Romania, bringing into the light its specificities on comparison with the previous epoch. The instauration of communist power in Romania in 1947 meant an attempting to apply a vast project of the society reconstruction. Inside of this project leaded by the communists the patterns of “new man” produced new euphemisms and a new taboo around death event, having an ideological support: death was considered a reflex of life – a simple life dedicated to the proletarian aims. During that time it appeared different nuances of this pattern due to the implementation of the atheist model at the societal level (1970-1989).
As regards the cremation, this practice knew some continuity and several discontinuities during the period. Therefore, cremation continued to be at the same level as inhumation from the legal pointview (Romanian Penal Code, 1955). On the other hand, cremation knew mutations as practice due to the preference of some Romanian communist leadership for it (Iosif Ranghet, Lothar Radaceanu, and so on). Their preference for cremation tried to be a pattern of communist way of life and death. But this situation was incapable to generate a larger pattern in Romania. I could affirm the Romanian communist power did not intend to implement as practice the cremation from all the country and I try to explain this situation from many perspectives:
1. the possibility to build and use new crematories in communist Romania;
2. the “original” relation between communist political power and Romanian Orthodox Church which strongly rejected the cremation.
Such situation caused the existence of a single crematory in Romania, during the communist period.
Also, the present paper brings into the light one of the dark side of the Romanian communist regime which used the evil politics of cremation for deleting the trails of its violent repression during the events of 17th -22nd of December 1989.

PS. Informations about this event can be found on http://www.dur.ac.uk/cdals/ddd9conference/

News

1. "Alcoholism: Historical and Social Issues" International Conference was a succesfull and inspiring event. All the participants and all the persons who worked for organizing it (Victor Tudor Rosu, Gabriel Rustoiu, Rares Diodiu, Liviu Zgarciu, Corina Rotar and myself, too) were satisfied with what happened at this. The second edition of the conference will be organized next year. Here there are some reactions at this event:

http://www.citynews.ro/alba/din-oras-10/conferinta-istoria-alcoolului-si-problemele-sociale-56228/

http://www.informatiadealba.ro/index.php?s=rotar&x=3&y=10

http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/alba-iulia-cercetari-istorice-si-sociologice-asupra-alcoolismului.html

2. Next week I will be gone in UK for attending at DDD9 conference at Durham.