Politics of Death Time If imperial control anticipates the assimilation of productive life to a generalized time, then the personal and affective ties that produce social relations are likewise exposed to these political interventions. The particularized variety of time that figures and affirms social reproduction (e.g., marriage and funerals rites) offers a crucial lens into the effects of incorporation. When Han administrators discussed funerary practices, mourning was “barbarian” an oft-scrutinized behavior, deemed emotionally dangerous, and to be corrected through proper techniques of placing and clothing the body in line with classic proscriptions. Funerals thus appeared to juxtapose an affective encounter, one where a particular form of local time outside of economic or official space attracted imperial attention. To organize a funerary event implies setting time outside of labor, dispensing material resources, and, more importantly, coordinating others to visit a place that operates on a nonquotidian or heterotopic time (Foucault 1967). The production of funerals and affirmation of personal ties necessitate a return to Bronze Age cemetery locales, places that presumably were reduced by administrative order. The penetration of generalized time on funerary process can be examined in the frequency and rate of burial events, the attention or paid to funerary preparation, and the “care” particular sartorial style used to dress the deceased. These dimensions of funerary ritual infer not only on the timely actions of the living but also contrast the techniques of grieving in the Bronze Age and the imperial period. The expectation is that the material record and temporal structure of these funerary events are sensitive to discontinuities in settlements, land use, and monetary reforms, possibly with this impact most palpably felt among communities closely pulled into the administrative orbit.
Politics of Death Time If imperial control anticipates the assimilation of productive life to a generalized time, then the personal and affective ties that produce social relations are likewise exposed to these political interventions. The particularized variety of time that figures and affirms social reproduction (e.g., marriage and funerals rites) offers a crucial lens into the effects of incorporation. When Han administrators discussed “barbarian” funerary practices, mourning was an oft-scrutinized behavior, deemed emotionally dangerous, and to be corrected through proper techniques of placing and clothing the body in line with classic proscriptions. Funerals thus appeared to juxtapose an affective encounter, one where a particular form of local time outside of economic or official space attracted imperial attention. To organize a funerary event implies setting time outside of labor, dispensing material resources, and, more importantly, coordinating others to visit a place that operates on a nonquotidian or heterotopic time (Foucault 1967). The production of funerals and affirmation of personal ties necessitate a return to Bronze Age cemetery locales, places that presumably were reduced by administrative order. The penetration of generalized time on funerary process can be examined in the frequency and rate of burial events, the attention or “care” paid to funerary preparation, and the particular sartorial style used to dress the deceased. These dimensions of funerary ritual infer not only on the timely actions of the living but also contrast the techniques of grieving in the Bronze Age and the imperial period. The expectation is that the material record and temporal structure of these funerary events are sensitive to discontinuities in settlements, land use, and monetary reforms, possibly with this impact most palpably felt among communities closely pulled into the administrative orbit.
ECS-Mar.-11-paper.docx