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whalever the deeper meaning of these tales, at a concrete and literal level they propose an
optimistic. yet also dynamic worldview: jf no good deed goes unrewarded, it remains thai
who nothing risks, nothing gains. Life, in other words. may have 10 be spent in the
omnipresent danger of death, and spare no "nerves," the courageous acceptance of its
demands is the price of survival, happiness and material security.
In conclusion, the various cultural expressions overviewed in this first account of
"traditional death" commonly equipped the community with a supponing response (0 the
precariolls way of life of pre-Confederation Newfoundlanders. While life danger was
omnipresent, familiarity with death built up an effeclive defence all along the daily process
of community life through enforcing a positive and courageous attitude towards its
imminence and inevitability. "Traditional" death was recognized as an integml pan of life;
as such, it was prepared for, diagnosed in its earliest signs, and celebrated in reconciliation
with its reality. Thus anticipated and accepted, the natural shock that all demh causes, even
when expected, was smoothed through this gradual process, or "tamed." A funeral, hence,
came to be an "occasion" similar to any other social event. This cultural recuperation of
death already reduced its awesomeness in introducing the idea of a liminal stage, which
would be completed in its ritual celebration.
The separate consideration of the secular or merely social aspects of the wake and
funeral underlying the Christian rite has revealed how, contrary to the modern
"privatisation" and "deritllalization" of the event, the "traditional" way of dealh reinforced
social ties within the group. In itself, the significant social dimension of "tamed death" laid
down a structure of moral and material support, which eased the emotional brunt suffered
by the mourners. The three-day halt, sanctioned by social custom, provided them with a
maximal opponunity to acknowledge their loss and solve their emotional shock. This halt
being extended to the group as a whole ensured complete material and moral suppon from
their peers, thus facilitating the relatives' emotional rehabilitation.
While grief was shon-lived, the dead were not forgouen or completely evacuated from
the living's consciousness. More than clung to out of deep personal affection, they kept
their community S13tus, hence the privilege of occupying their fonner locations. Traditions
of men lost at sea, including mysterious lights, ghost ships and sailors give evidence of
hannonious cohabitation with the dead--who were somewhat disturbing if co-operative.
As for their privilege of making contact with the living, they were neither fe;:tred nor envied
for it. Still free of any Christian connotations, these revenants, in the terms of Emmanuel