Discussion
8.1 Aspects of late modernity can be manifest, even in a setting and during an event regarded as
traditional, such as a funeral on the Isle of Lewis. It is also possible for an individual to make use of the
traditional authority of the church and for this to come about in a reflexively modern manner. The two
funerals discussed in this paper vary in this respect. The funeral organised by Robert on the Isle of Lewis
for his wife was reflexively driven by Robert's discussion with Lucy before she died, and his perceptions
and ideas about her life and death. He made use of the expert systems that were available to him to
organise what seemed to him to be a suitable funeral for his wife.
8.2 Graham, on the other hand, arranged a funeral that was more in tune with traditional Christian ways,
despite the manner in which he chose the church and the lay preacher to conduct the funeral and the
thanksgiving service. The process of selection he used was a reflexive one in which he took into account
his wife’s beliefs, as well as his own ideas, in order to make an appropriate decision. The service of
thanksgiving for Janet and the funeral service were both conducted in accordance with traditional Christian
ways of funeral worship, and included hymns, prayers, and Bible readings. The lay preacher was the only
person to speak, and he represented the traditional authority of the church. That Graham was behaving
reflexively in his decision making did not alter the fact that the lay preacher was invited to conduct the
funeral because he was a representative of a traditional Christian church, and that he behaved as such in
his conduct of the funeral.
8.3 The actions of Graham, in particular, suggest that individuals have the capacity to choose which
aspects of traditional practice they wish to use and can interweave them with non-traditional ways.
Institutions such as the family and church continue to influence people’s lives, despite the prevalence of
reflexivity (Gilding 2010). This suggests that there is more to the way in which individuals deal with death
than a simple reaction to a fateful moment (Giddens 1991) or marginal situation (Berger 1967), which
causes the individual to revert to traditional practices when confronted with a situation beyond the limits of
their reflexivity. Graham used the traditional institution of the church and its practices, but he chose to do
so and he combined this with other less traditional practices.
8.4 Both the funerals described in this paper are recognisable as funerals and the individuals involved in
their organisation are subject to social forces outside themselves, even when acting reflexively. As Adams
(2003) suggests, reflexivity is socially specific and embedded in a particular social setting. Robert made
his choices despite his awareness that he might offend locals, but his concern to honour his wife’s wishes
and character outweighed this anxiety; for his own funeral he said that he will be happy with the local
customs.
8.5 The experiences of Robert and Graham described here suggest that individuals can be both self-
reflexive and non-reflexive by turns. The reflexivity exhibited by the two widowers was to be found within
their relationships, particularly in the relationship each man had with his deceased wife. Reflexivity was
also to be found in the processes involved in planning the funerals, such as when Robert consulted the
island funeral director about the possibility of arranging a cremation for Lucy.
8.6 However, it was also the case that traditional institutions such as the church and family maintained an
important presence. Both men included their adult children in the funeral planning process, and the
institutional church was particularly important for the funeral planned by Graham. Acting as a reflexive
individual of late modernity is therefore not necessarily something that an individual either does or does not
do, it can be something that an individual sometimes does and sometimes does not do.
8.7 The choices which both men made were influenced by their specific circumstances and the settings in
which they lived (Adams, 2003). While he lived in a traditional social setting Robert’s status as an outsider
made his non-traditional choices easier both for him to make and for his friends and neighbours to accept
in a way they might not have done had he been a native. For Graham living in a city which lacked
identifiable local traditions meant that the options were wide open for him, and included recourse to
traditional authorities. In a manner consistent with Walter’s concept of the revival of death, aspects of
tradition, modernity and neo-modernity were combined in these funerals (Walter, 1994). Reflexivity in the
context of death and funerals is thus not an all or nothing matter, it is subject to context and individuals
both engage in it and fail to engage in it (Adams, 2003).
Notes
1 See, for example, <http://next.oregonianextra.com/lovelle/>, a site which details the end of life decisions
made by Lovelle Svart.
2The 2010 funeral of aid worker Linda Norgrove was held on the Isle of Lewis where her family live. The
BBC filmed part of the funeral procession and this is available on their website at
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11621902>.
References
ADAMS, M (2003) ‘The reflexive self and culture: a critique’, British Journal of Sociology, vol. 54, no. 2 pp.
221-238. [doi : ://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0007131032000080212]
ARNASON, A (2000) ‘Biography, bereavement, story’, Mortality, vol. 5 no. 2 pp. 189-204.
http://www.socresonline.org.uk/16/3/22.html
31/08/2011