“Death is nothing at all”: A more-than-human economy of salvation in French animal cemeteries

Abstract

This paper is based on research conducted in 2021-22 at the Cimetière des chiens in Asnières-sur-Seine near Paris and the Cimetière des animaux des Alpes Maritimes in Cagnessur-mer, two of the largest pet cemeteries in France. The aim of this study was to investigate the role played by animal cemeteries in the inclusion of companion animals in a French Catholic “economy of salvation”, here understood as language and iconography evoking conceptions of the afterlife (the heavens, paradise), reunification, redemption, resurrection, salvation, or the continuity of a bond beyond death. I also ask what contradictions do cemeteries' celebration of deceased animals reveal, if animal cemeteries really elevate the status of companion animals in contemporary societies, or if they might reinforce animals’ subordinate status. The evidence marshalled in this paper demonstrates that the inclusion of animals in human death rites and deathscapes is still largely marginalized in contemporary French society, and yet that animal cemeteries provide a necessary space for their human companions to grieve, love and hope. However, the evidence also indicates that, in some cases, users of animal cemeteries tend to honor animals in comparison to an ideal of humanity, thereby reinforcing a degree of human exceptionalism.