عنوان

On behalf of the nation :

Number

TLets810120

Title Proper

On behalf of the nation :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Gaus, Aline

Title Proper by Another Author

a sociological study of the Wootton Bassett repatriations

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Jenkins, Richard; Clark, Tom

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Sheffield

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2015

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Thesis (Ph.D.)

Text preceding or following the note

2015

Text of Note

With the Wootton Bassett rituals, a new landmark was set for British war commemoration. After six years of quiet military repatriations of fallen soldiers through another airbase, the flights had to be rerouted to RAF Lyneham and the hearses carrying the flag-draped coffins now passed through the heart of the nearby Wootton Bassett on their 50-mile journey to a military hospital in Oxford. Unexpectedly, this contingency triggered a series of events that gave birth to a community-led, local ritual that had remarkable national impact. This thesis is based on an in-depth ethnographic study that tells the story of the start, the consolidation and the end of this unusual and unprecedented ritual practice to commemorate the fallen and pay respect to them and their families. It takes advantage of this highly unusual opportunity to follow a process of ritualisation from its beginning, and explores how in this case ritual was employed to make sense of an unexpected and hitherto unexperienced situation, and to manage the emotional charge of that situation. In addition, the study also analyses the effect of this phenomenon and locates it within its social, cultural, historical and political context.

University of Sheffield

Jenkins, Richard; Clark, Tom

University of Sheffield

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y