ABSTRACT

Brazil, with its huge territory and multiple cultures, is a permanent case study concerning death, dying, and disposal. This chapter briefly examines the shifts in the memorialization of the dead in Brazil from colonization to present day, examining the role of space and place and their interaction with the bereaved in remembering those on the fringes of society – whether because of colonialism, cultural norms, or poverty. Memorialization and the physical sites remembering the dead offer a place to re-situate the importance of remembering, and this chapter examines this importance through a case study of the São Paulo Crematorium, and three deaths within the LGBT community of São Paulo. Ultimately, we argue that physical place and space offer a metaphorical and symbolic space for those on the periphery to be remembered.