(en) COVID-19 has led to unprecedented health and social measures in several countries, including major restrictions on funeral rituals. These restrictions concerned pre-mortem, peri-mortem and post-mortem rites. Based on a longitudinal study of 955 French-speaking Canadians bereaved of a loved one during the pandemic, this article describes the reality of these impediments. Through an analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data collected, it is possible to identify the gap between desired and realized funeral rituals during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show important hindrances to the various desired rituals, yet some ritual and symbolic creativity by the bereaved.
Cherblanc, J., Zech, E., Gauthier, G., Verdon, C., Simard, C., Bergeron‐Leclerc, C., Grenier, J., Maltais, D., Cadell, S., Sani, L., & Bacqué, M.-F. (2022). Sociographie des ritualités funéraires en temps de pandémie: des rites empêchés aux rites appropriés. Canadian Review of Sociology, 59(3), 348-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12390 (Original work published 2022)