Abstract
Conducted in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, the ethnographic research presented by this work describes the dynamics within circuits that enact the so-called funerary markets. Composed mainly by funeral homes, cemeteries and crematories, the funerary market is part of a larger complex whose aim is the creation of a dead person's statute. Negotiations between professionals and customers end up enacting the dead person's agency, one of the specific characteristics of the price-making dynamics. The dead person, not being a locus of passivity, displays his/hers life by setting behavioral guidelines in dealings concerning his/hers funeral arrangements, as well as by influencing choices and decisions. The research focuses on funeral homes in Porto Alegre, from which an analysis about the economies of emotion and singularities, as well as the agency of those involved in negotiations - alive and dead - and the logics of price-making, becomes possible.
Key words:
Agency; Dead person; Emotional economy; Funerary market; Negotiation
Thumbnail
