Do we deny death? II. Critiques of the death-denial thesis. (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tradii, Laura; Robert, Martin
• Is Part Of: Mortality. Volume 24:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 377
• Page End: 388
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: Death denial -- death taboo -- history of death -- sociology of death -- death studies; Thanatology -- Periodicals; Mortality -- Periodicals; Bereavement -- Periodicals; Undertakers and undertaking -- Periodicals; 304.64
• DOI: 10.1080/13576275.2017.1415319
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1357-6275

Abstract

Abstract: The first part of this article, published in an earlier issue of this journal, provided an overview of how the death-denial thesis took shape and spread in the social sciences between the 1930s and 1980s. By 'death-denial thesis' we refer to the assumption according to which Western societies seek to deny the reality of death. In this second part of the article, we turn our attention to the most extensive critiques addressed to the said thesis. We attempt to assess the present state of the narrative and to outline how its apparent obsolescence today opens new avenues of exploration for death studies.