title: Expressions of private mourning in public space: the evolving structure of spontaneous and permanent roadside memorials in The Netherlands.
abstract: A visual content analysis of photos of 2176 roadside memorials in The Netherlands was undertaken together with 24 interviews with the people who constructed them to understand how they deal with traumatic death. Friends urgently need to memorialize the deceased and establish spontaneous memorials. They place meaningful objects at the place of death, not necessarily indicating the deceased's identity. In contrast, permanent memorials identify who died and re-embody that person and are primarily established by parents. By transforming the death site into a place of care, parents continue their role as nurturers. Differences in types of memorials are discussed.
authors: Department of Cultural Geography, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. m.klaassens@rug.nl
authors: Mirjam
authors: M
authors: Klaassens
authors: Department of Cultural Geography, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Peter D
authors: PD
authors: Groote
authors: Department of Cultural Geography, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Frank M
authors: FM
authors: Vanclay
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D001601:Bereavement; D005260:Female; D005655:Funeral Rites; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D013561:Symbolism