Encountering the 'reality of death' through professional discourses: The matter of materiality

Abstract

This paper raises questions about how the relationship between competing discourses associated with contemporary Western death ritual might be understood. It argues that both traditional and more contemporary perspectives are often evident in the ways in which death and dying are currently being managed. By drawing on theoretical approaches recently developed within anthropological monographs, it suggests that aspects of death ritual such as 'funeral', 'corpse', 'cemetery', 'grief' be viewed as cultural objects which are 'personalized' by participants such as funeral directors, bereavement counsellors or bereaved parents in ways which reflect their contrasting and sometimes internally inconsistent agendas, aspirations or values, their world-views. Thus, the paper argues, that which bereaved people are encouraged to acccept—'the reality of death'—can be seen not merely as a focus for divergent discourses but, rather, as their product . Two case studies are used to explore these points—the National Funerals...