“I Want to Bury It, Will You Join Me?”: The Use of Ritual in Prenatal Loss among Women in Catalonia, Spain in the Early 21st Century
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The reviewer doesn't have any serious objection against the publication of this well-informed and investigated piece of research.
It could however be improved by a more thorough analysis of the data from which one could eventually expect to extract analytical categories of mourning, remembering, spiritual healing practices.
This would complete the narratives of the persons concerned by this research
This can also be achieved by a more detailed review of the practices and actions of "ritual" agents (Mourners, parents, etc.)
Finally, there remain a very limited amount of typing errors that need to be checked.
Author Response
The reviewer doesn't have any serious objection against the publication of this well-informed and investigated piece of research.
- We appreciate the feedback.
It could however be improved by a more thorough analysis of the data from which one could eventually expect to extract analytical categories of mourning, remembering, spiritual healing practices.
This would complete the narratives of the persons concerned by this research
This can also be achieved by a more detailed review of the practices and actions of "ritual" agents (Mourners, parents, etc.)
- Thank you for this suggestion. After reviewing the article, we agree that the themes of mourning, remembering and healing were all evident in the data, but perhaps not delineated clearly enough as such.
- We have therefore added some additional, clarifying text to the last paragraph of the Results – Overview section, as well as to the Conclusion.
- We trust that these changes address the reviewer’s hesitation, and we’re happy to further revise if necessary.
Finally, there remain a very limited amount of typing errors that need to be checked.
- We found a few typos and APA citation errors, which have been corrected.
Reviewer 2 Report
This is an excellent and very interesting study about contemporary ritual in the context of prenatal loss in Catalonia. The thesis and methodology are clearly described, and the research contributes to several fields in the humanities and social sciences.
The author(s) could add references to the work of Robbie Davis-Floyd and Melissa Cheyney, both of whom have published extensively (especially Davis-Floyd) on the rituals of birth, though they discuss rites of passage and liminality more broadly in the context of ritual.
My personal preference would be to use the adjective “Catalan” in place of the word “Catalonian.” The word, “Catalan” also refers to the people and language of Catalonia, though it is commonly used as a modifier (e.g. “Catalan ritual”).
Author Response
This is an excellent and very interesting study about contemporary ritual in the context of prenatal loss in Catalonia. The thesis and methodology are clearly described, and the research contributes to several fields in the humanities and social sciences.
- We appreciate the feedback.
The author(s) could add references to the work of Robbie Davis-Floyd and Melissa Cheyney, both of whom have published extensively (especially Davis-Floyd) on the rituals of birth, though they discuss rites of passage and liminality more broadly in the context of ritual.
- Thanks very much for this suggestion. We had indeed cited some of Davis-Floyd and Cheyney’s work in previous versions of this article, and their absence here was unintentional. We appreciate you pointing it out.
My personal preference would be to use the adjective “Catalan” in place of the word “Catalonian.” The word, “Catalan” also refers to the people and language of Catalonia, though it is commonly used as a modifier (e.g. “Catalan ritual”).
- Thank you for pointing that out – we agree, and have changed the reference to “Catalonian deathways” to “Catalan deathways”
