Cemetery: from Greek κοιμητήριον, "sleeping place" use interchangeably with grave (a hole dug in the ground to receive a coffin or dead body, typically marked by a stone or mound) yard (an area of land used for a particular purpose)
Like classicist Mary Beard I like cemeteries and to forwarn you this will probably not be my first and last cemetery blog, so turn away now if you are squeamish. I used to hangout in Smallthorne Cemetery in my teens, with my mates when the parks were shut. Tthey are often a green oasis in the middle of urban sprawl. Also, the word cemetery appears in the song title of one of my favourite bands.
A dreaded sunny day
And as the song goes on to lyrically wax "So we go inside and we gravely read the stones", what is there not to like. Last week I had my first visit to Highgate East Cemetery commonly know as where Marx is buried. Getting off at Archway Tube under Vantage Point formerly known as Archway Tower. We climbed the moderate gradient of Highgate Hill, took a slight detour to pop inside St Joseph's RC church and then crossed the charming Waterlow Park. Karl Marx's Tomb is an infamous construct it is the burial sites of Marx, of his wife, Jenny von Westphalen, and other members of his family. Originally buried in a different part of the Eastern cemetery, the bodies were disinterred (and dug-up) and reburied at their present location in 1954. Designed by socialist sculpture Laurence Bradshaw, unveiled by communist party general secretary Harry Pollitt in 1956. On the front, the final words of The Communist Manifesto, "Workers of all lands unite". I like Marx I don't agree with everything he said or some elements of lifestyle but sadly he has become a little bit unfashionable despite having a great hipster beard. I, also, have a degree in Sociology so Marx is also positively nostalgic for me and, to be honest, once you start seeing things in a Marxist way there really is no going back.
Marx is in the sociological corner across the way is Herbert Spencer's tomb, polymath (jack of all trades) - one of his specialisms was sociology (the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture of everyday life). A classical liberal he would have been a bit more on trend than Marx is at the moment. Often referred to as a positivist sociologist, which is the study of society that relies specifically on scientific evidence, Spencer, used Darwin's theory of evolution to help explain that society was like a living organism in that it will evolve and change over time.
Just behind Spencer's tomb is famous Geminian Eric Hobsbawn's, (who share's a birthday with me). British historian and Marxist Hobsbawn focused on the analysis of the "dual revolution" (the political French Revolution and the British Industrial Revolution). He saw their effect as a driving force behind the predominant trend towards liberal capitalism, an economic system organized on individual lines, which means the greatest possible number of economic decisions are made by individuals or households rather than by collective institutions or organisations, the opposite of a non-capitalist economy, very much on trend at the moment.
All this on Marx's patch, you tell me what is there not to like about cemeteries, with Marx, Spencer and Hobsbawn on your side. And if you go around the corner you fill find Malcom McClaren, situationist, (which was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists), mocking them all - not quietly sleeping.
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| Highgate Cemetery V McGarvey cc |
Like classicist Mary Beard I like cemeteries and to forwarn you this will probably not be my first and last cemetery blog, so turn away now if you are squeamish. I used to hangout in Smallthorne Cemetery in my teens, with my mates when the parks were shut. Tthey are often a green oasis in the middle of urban sprawl. Also, the word cemetery appears in the song title of one of my favourite bands.
Cemetery Gates - The Smiths
A dreaded sunny day
So I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
And as the song goes on to lyrically wax "So we go inside and we gravely read the stones", what is there not to like. Last week I had my first visit to Highgate East Cemetery commonly know as where Marx is buried. Getting off at Archway Tube under Vantage Point formerly known as Archway Tower. We climbed the moderate gradient of Highgate Hill, took a slight detour to pop inside St Joseph's RC church and then crossed the charming Waterlow Park. Karl Marx's Tomb is an infamous construct it is the burial sites of Marx, of his wife, Jenny von Westphalen, and other members of his family. Originally buried in a different part of the Eastern cemetery, the bodies were disinterred (and dug-up) and reburied at their present location in 1954. Designed by socialist sculpture Laurence Bradshaw, unveiled by communist party general secretary Harry Pollitt in 1956. On the front, the final words of The Communist Manifesto, "Workers of all lands unite". I like Marx I don't agree with everything he said or some elements of lifestyle but sadly he has become a little bit unfashionable despite having a great hipster beard. I, also, have a degree in Sociology so Marx is also positively nostalgic for me and, to be honest, once you start seeing things in a Marxist way there really is no going back.
 |
| Me & Marx V McGarvey cc |
Marx is in the sociological corner across the way is Herbert Spencer's tomb, polymath (jack of all trades) - one of his specialisms was sociology (the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture of everyday life). A classical liberal he would have been a bit more on trend than Marx is at the moment. Often referred to as a positivist sociologist, which is the study of society that relies specifically on scientific evidence, Spencer, used Darwin's theory of evolution to help explain that society was like a living organism in that it will evolve and change over time.
 |
| Herbert Spencer's Grave V McGarvey cc |
Just behind Spencer's tomb is famous Geminian Eric Hobsbawn's, (who share's a birthday with me). British historian and Marxist Hobsbawn focused on the analysis of the "dual revolution" (the political French Revolution and the British Industrial Revolution). He saw their effect as a driving force behind the predominant trend towards liberal capitalism, an economic system organized on individual lines, which means the greatest possible number of economic decisions are made by individuals or households rather than by collective institutions or organisations, the opposite of a non-capitalist economy, very much on trend at the moment.
 |
| Eric Hobsbawn's Grave V McGarvey cc |
All this on Marx's patch, you tell me what is there not to like about cemeteries, with Marx, Spencer and Hobsbawn on your side. And if you go around the corner you fill find Malcom McClaren, situationist, (which was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists), mocking them all - not quietly sleeping.
 |
| Malcom McLaren's Grave V McGarvey cc |