Memories, practice and identity. A case of early medieval migration

The paper is exploring a role of memory in the formation of cultural identity in the circumstances of migration. In particular, the attention is directed towards ritual practices and the role of such collective actions for reinforcing the ontological questions about selfhood, belonging to a group and identity of the immigrants. It will be put forward that the proper conduct of funerary practices served not only as a means of defining, controlling and domesticating death of a community member but participation in the rituals had a powerful socializing and bonding outcome for the mourners. For immigrants these collective memories and sharing of common knowledge rooted in cultural memory and the past might have worked as a solidification factor strengthening their feeling of identity.
The paper is also aiming at examining the effect of migration on funerary practices and efforts and solutions developed by the immigrants to communicate their otherness and cultural identity. Theoretical approaches to collective memory and collective practice are combined and exemplified by a case study of funerary rituals of early medieval Slavic immigrants on the Danish island of Bornholm.