Beyond the good death : the anthropology of modern dying / James W. Green.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Green, James W.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania. Press.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Funeral rites and ceremonies--United States.

Funeral rites and ceremonies.

United States.

Death--Psychological aspects.

Death.

Death--Social aspects--United States.

Death--Social aspects.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Dictionaries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (258 pages)

Other Title:

Penn Press e-books.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2008]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

In November 1998, millions of television viewers watched as Thomas Youk died. Suffering from the late stages of Lou Gehrig's disease, Youk had called upon infamous Michigan pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian to help end his life on his own terms. After delivering the videotape to 60 Minutes , Kevorkian was arrested and convicted of manslaughter, despite the fact that Youk's family firmly believed that the ending of his life qualified as a good death. Death is political, as the controversies surrounding Jack Kevorkian and, more recently, Terri Schiavo have shown. While death is a natural event, modern end-of-life experiences are shaped by new medical, demographic, and cultural trends. People who are dying are kept alive, sometimes against their will or the will of their family, with powerful medications, machines, and "heroic measures." Current research on end-of-life issues is substantial, involving many fields. Beyond the Good Death takes an anthropological approach, examining the changes in our concept of death over the last several decades. As author James W. Green determines, the attitudes of today's baby boomers differ greatly from those of their parents and grandparents, who spoke politely and in hushed voices of those who had "passed away." Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, in the 1960s, gave the public a new language for speaking openly about death with her "five steps of dying." If we talked more about death, she emphasized, it would become less fearful for everyone. The term "good death" reentered the public consciousness as narratives of AIDS, cancer, and other chronic diseases were featured on talk shows and in popular books such as the best-selling Tuesdays with Morrie . Green looks at a number of contemporary secular American death practices that are still informed by an ancient religious ethos. Most important, Beyond the Good Death provides an interpretation of the ways in which Americans react when death is at hand for themselves or for those they care about.

Contents:

Getting dead

Exit strategies

The body as relic

Soulscapes

Passing it on

In our hearts forever

The future of death.

Notes:

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Multi-User.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-253) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780812202076

0812202074

OCLC:

835765644

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.