Den nödvändiga riten? Om upplevelser av kvalitet i begravningsgudstjänsten

Sammanfattning: What function can collective rites fill for both individual and society in late modern Sweden?How do the processes of individualisation and relativisation influence people’s relationships tothe life interpreting rite? This study aims above all to complement existing research with knowledgeabout how the closest relatives experience a funeral service. What is a funeral service andunder what conditions does the Church of Sweden hold a mandate to function as a steward ofritual in the proximity of death? We live in a society which is borne, to some extent, by anotherlogic than that which sustained agricultural and industrial societies. This influences theways in which we think about God, which in turn influences the ways in which we expressourselves ritually. With a starting point in Danièle Hervieu-Léger’s theory of religion ascollective memory, as well as the concept of ritual as action, a discussion on the role andconditions of ritual in Swedish society is conducted as an introduction. Following this backgroundsketch the results of a qualitative interview study of around 20 widows and widowers,who have been interviewed about their experiences of a funeral service, are presented. Inorder to be able to understand the rite of passage and its altered capacity in a late modernsociety, the concept of liminality is discussed. With the help of these concepts a theoreticaldiscussion around the interviewees’ experience of the funeral service is held. Finally with astarting point in these widowers’ and widows’ experiences and in relation to the theoreticalbackground seven central quality factors are formulated in relation to Church of Swedenfuneral services.