Dead Men’s geraniums: Domestic gardens as sites of spatialised bereavement

Ruth McManus

University of Canterbury

Christchurch, NZ.

Glasgow’s NecropolisGlasgow’s Necropolis

Port Arthur, Tasmania

A new sociology of grief

• Grief’s purpose ‘is the construction of a durable biography that enables the living to integrate the memory of the dead into their ongoing lives’ (Walter 1997:7).

• Space is not always impoverished by bereavement

Clifton Graveyard Bower (Bristol UK),

Virtual public memorial gardens – not a blade of grass in sight!

What are domestic gardens?

• Domestic gardens are key material sites of social practice

– Domestic gardens are intensive sites of social practice

– Domestic gardens are intensifying as sites of social practice

Primary sources

• Anecdotal / popular press

• Mass Observation Archive, University of Sussex, UK

Gardens as sites of grieving

A place of memories

A site where everyday objects become memorable

Gardens as sites of grieving

Conclusion

• The domestic garden - a site and practice of spatialised grief that intensifies and transforms therefore enriches a sense of place.