Cronk Week 3 Activity Post

The crude death rate of Croatia has incrementally increased from ten in 1970 to eleven in 1990 and from twelve in 2012 to thirteen in 2015 (Statistics). This is a true testament to Croatians’ longevity. Overall, these patterns are relatively low and comparable to other countries nearby. Hungary’s crude death rate, for example, increased from eleven in 1970 to fourteen in 1990 and was also recorded at thirteen in 2015 (Statistics). Many will live to be in the late eighties and early nineties, which has been consistent throughout centuries.

As far as authoritative knowledge and assistance in death rites, I could not find any information specific to Croatia; however, Croatia is a very religious country with a majority of its population identifying as Roman Catholic. After examining the Roman Catholic faith itself–cross-culturally, there showed multiple similarities in traditional religious practices amongst believers. It is very possible that American Roman Catholics and Croatian Roman Catholics handle death almost or entirely alike.

“In post-industrial societies, there is no single way to die, and multiple scripts serve as alternative models for how to die well” (Long). Burial is the most common of funeral arrangements in Croatia. Burials do not take place until twenty-four hours after one’s death, so during this time, mourners would come together to decorate the house for a wake. Decorations typically consist of candles, mirrors, and pictures (Sunde). Parents were very open about death with their children, so they would be allowed to view the body and practice death culture at a very young age.

Traditionally, the family will begin to wash and prepare the body for burial. In the town of Podgora, a bathing ritual where all orifices are closed with wax or old rags will take place (Sunde). If the deceased was a baby or a small child, they would be dressed in all white and be presented with a veil to symbolize angelic characteristics such as innocence and purity. A lamentation is a form of grieving that can provoke weeping, singing, or even wailing and is primarily practiced by the women in the family of the deceased (Long). This is a custom performed during the wake and can last weeks after the funeral depending on an individual’s mourning process.

On the day of the funeral, the deceased lay in a coffin that is carried in a procession to the cemetery. The Master of the funeral would arrange the procession in order: the cross followed by the men, followed by flowers and singers, followed by the priests and the altar boys, followed by the coffin, followed by family and relatives (Sunde). Women and young girls are traditionally positioned at the very end of the procession, but pregnant women and small children are not allowed to attend. This still holds true in less traditional funeral settings.

Those who attended the funeral wear all black. If a parent or sibling dies, women will continue to wear mourning for three years after the funeral, but if a husband dies, his widow will wear mourning for the remainder of her life (Sunde). Once at the cemetery, bells will toll and the priest will give a blessing before the final burial. Bells are a symbolic reference, and in this case, they intend to identify someone leaving the physical world. After the burial has commenced, the family will continue to hold wake-like practices of celebration and remembrance for the remainder of the day.

References

Long, S.O., (2004). Cultural Scripts for a Good Death in Japan and the United States: Similarities and Differences. Social Science and Medicine, 58, 913-928.

Statistics. (2003, December 24). Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/croatia_statistics.html

Sunde, S., (2006). Funeral and Mourning Customs in Podgora. Croatian Medical Journal, 47(5), 681-684.

One thought on “Cronk Week 3 Activity Post

  1. You quote Long and reference them in this post a few times, but you can go farther and use the ideas that she presented in the article to discuss the Croatian funeral. For example, I’m sure Croatians find some deaths to be more tragic or sadder than others, and some deaths are just shameful or embarrassing and this is reflected in funerals. You slightly touch on it when you talk about how the deaths of children and babies are treated differently, but you could go deeper into that discussion.

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