Mourning Costume
Dr Helen Frisby
- Region:
- Anywhere
- Notice Period:
- Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
- Type:
- Academic
- Fee:
- Paid: £50.00
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 11th April 2023
The wearing of special clothes to signify mourning is most often associated with wealthy Victorians; but in fact the custom possesses much deeper historical roots.
This illustrated talk with Dr Helen Frisby, author of the Shire book Traditions of Death and Burial, explores the history and practice of wearing mourning going back into the Middle Ages. We’ll also look at how the custom continues to evolve nowadays, and what this might say about our relationships with the dead.
By arrangement, the in-person version of this talk can also include the opportunity to see and handle examples of mourning jewellery from the speaker's own collection.
Views: 203 | Enquiries: 1About Dr Helen Frisby
We're all going to die: but the ways in which we approach, avoid and attempt to subvert mortality are particular to time and place. Exactly how we do so, and how we relate to the dead, reveals our most treasured values and profound hopes and fears in life.
Following a PhD on Victorian funeral customs from the University of Leeds in 2009, I'm now an internationally recognised expert on the history and folklore of death, dying and funerals. My most recent publication is the Shire Library book 'Traditions of Death and Burial' (Bloomsbury, 2019) - it's the history of death, dying and funerals since the Middle Ages that I've always wanted to write. Previously I've appeared on the History Channel discussing Victorian funerals with Johnny Vaughan, and on BBC radio talking about sin-eating and other historic funeral customs.
Based on my own original research, my sympathetic, scholarly yet gently humorous talks about funeral customs past, present and future will get your group thinking and talking about how exactly do we deal with this inevitable fact of life.
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by Dr Helen Frisby
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