The dead have always been enchanted and at the same time unenchanted because they are the detritus of that infinitely enigmatic final act of being human: death. They are gone and not gone, remembered and not remembered, able to do great things and paradigmatically useless. This talk explores the role of dogma, beliefs and unbelief in how we treat mortal remains. It begins with praxis and asks how it comports with its presumed foundation in what we hold to be true about the dead. The talk is about the charisma of bodies and bones and objects that have come in contact with them: material memory. I trace briefly a history of the enchantment and disenchantment of the dead and then explore examples of their sacrality in the face of theological arguments that they are profane-- the case of Protestant saints, for example-- and of their ability to reconcile the present to the past-- the collection of soil from lynching sites for example in the absence of any views about why this practice might work its effects.

This lecture is a hybrid event: it takes place in person for a limited audience and will be broadcast live via Blackboard. When registering you will be able to choose how you want to attend.