Notes from the field (CIH): Jaime Perez and Death
The semester's colloquium presentations at the Center for Historical Investigation (CIH) within the University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras) began today with a talk about death by the Professor Jaime Perez. Socially and intellectually, the theme is one of inherent interest given that, in being an inevitable part of the human condition, each society develops their own particular manner of dealing with this traumatic event. Unfortunately, our beloved Prof. Perez never was able to present an overriding thesis, in focusing on the description of primary and secondary sources available during the majority of the talk. Similarly, while his interesting description of cemeteries and the conflicts of power between religious and secular authorities was highly suggestive, it lacked a clear and coherent theme. Curiously, although Prof. Perez has a background in anthropology, he remained strictly situated within Western culture, without inquiring into divergent non-Western concepts and social rituals. From the information presented, we might suggest a possible unifying theme: the correlation between "predictability" and public affect. The most curious element of the presentation was the fact that unexpected deaths--"Coquito" (drug dealer shootings), infant mortality, and automobile accidents--tended to be followed by social rituals full of highly visible demonstrations of affection (flowers, candles, etc). By comparison, those deaths that occurred 'expectedly' (death by old age), tended to have an affect level below the previous case. Modern cemeteries, for example, are in a clear state of decay. This raises an issue pertaining to the 'meaning' of death: have there been historical variations in the 'meaning' of death given that, in contrast to our modern world, life tended to be more suddently cut short in the past. We hope this observation is of some utility in his future research.