American individualism lives on after death, as consumers choose new ways to put their remains to rest

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Diana Blaine, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

(THE CONVERSATION) Death may be inevitable and universal, but the ways people deal with it most certainly are not. Whether doing Tibetan Buddhist sky burials, attending a graveside service dressed in black or putting one’s parents’ ashes in the sacred Ganges, each culture has its own ways to deal with death and mourning.

Yet death rites around the world do share some common goals. Traditionally, what happens to a dead body reflects communal beliefs and practices – rituals not only meant to honor the deceased but also to comfort their community.

Increasingly, however, people in the United States are choosing unconventional ways to dispose of their bodies. Today, fans of music might have their cremated remains pressed into LPs. Wannabe astronomers can be shot into space.

In my research on death in the U.S. – from mummy exhibits and lurid true crime...