Abstract
Death is one of the most pervasive phenomena of the social, and sometimes is described as ‘the only certainty in life’. Death is indeed often considered the ultimate biological essentialism; the moment at which humanity’s obsession with control finds an absolute limit (Giddens, 1991), a view that seems to result in a privileging of realist and materialist approaches over constructivist and idealist treatments. Obviously, the bodily condition labelled death has a materialist dimension; it is an event/proces s that exists and occurs independently of human will, thought, and interpretation. We cannot reduce death to the way it is socially and culturally interpreted, but at the same time death remains loaded with meaning and we cannot detach it from the processes of social construction (Carpentier and Van Brussel, 2012).
Death, signs of: Relaxing of facial muscles, producing rather staring eyes and gaping mouth. Loss of curves of the back, which becomes flat against the bed or table. Slight discoloration of the skin, which becomes a waxy-yellow hue, and loses its pink transparency at the fingertips. (Medical dictionary, cited in Ball, 1976)
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© 2014 Leen Van Brussel
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Van Brussel, L. (2014). A Discourse-Theoretical Approach to Death and Dying. In: Van Brussel, L., Carpentier, N. (eds) The Social Construction of Death. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137391919_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137391919_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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