Fowler, Bridget, 1943- and Bielsa, Esperança, 1971-. (2007) The lives we choose to remember : a quantitative analysis of newspaper obituaries. The Sociological Review, Vol.55 (No.2). pp. 203-226. ISSN 0038-0261

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Abstract

Collective memory is intertwined with remembering the dead. Systematic forgetting affects certain ethnic groups, nationalities and classes disproportionately. This study assesses whom we choose as our heroes by commemorating them in obituaries. It is the first cross-national, historical approach to this subject. Constant structures are shown in different Western countries over time in terms of the selection of individuals for this honour. In particular, there are still a high proportion of the subjects in British newspapers who have attended private schools and Oxford and Cambridge. The impact of elite higher educational establishments is also evident, on a reduced scale, in Le Monde and The New York Times. Yet certain signs of movement within the obituary world can also be detected: women start to appear in their own right, the Third World begins to be represented and a wider array of occupations have become the source of obituary portraits.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CT Biography H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology > Centre for the Study of Women and Gender
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Obituaries -- Social aspects, Collective memory, Quantitative research
Journal or Publication Title:	The Sociological Review
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing
ISSN:	0038-0261
Date:	May 2007
Volume:	Vol.55
Number:	No.2
Number of Pages:	24
Page Range:	pp. 203-226
Identification Number:	10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00702.x
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/31944

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