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Peculiarities of the Death Perception in the Romanian Area. The primary purpose of this study is to find out unknown aspects of the Romanians’ death perception, thereby facilitating a better understanding of the socio-cultural differences between the past and the present. The image of death in ecclesiastical art, in narrative folklore and ethnographic material has been analyzed. We emphasized that funeral rites, labeled as mere superstition, have consistency, relevance and meaning if they are treated in terms of the magical thinking that created them. There is a strong valorization of traditional practices, especially of their symbolic value. Unlike modern environments where the death is distant and distanced, the Romanian peasant, belonging to the traditional community, was understanding his death as a natural order of life, benefiting by the advantage of a strong community network of solidarity built during his life.

Keywords: death perception, image of death, funeral practice, tradition.