Description
Book SynopsisDying and death are topics of deep humane concern for many people in a variety of circumstances and contexts. However, they are not discussed to any great extent or with sufficient focus in order to gain knowledge and understanding of their major features and aspects. The present volume is an attempt to bridge the undesirable gap between what should be known and understood about dying and death and what is easily accessible. Included in the present volume are chapters arranged in three sections. First, there are chapters on aspects of dying, written by people who have professional experience and personal insights into the nature of the processes at work and the ways it should be treated. Secondly, there are chapters on assisted death (Euthanasia) that illuminate the practices involved in the professional assistance given to persons who suffer from an incurable illness and who do not want their painful life to be medically extended. Thirdly, there are chapters on mourning, examined in a variety of cultural contexts. These provide insights for different ways of maintaining the presence of the dead in the life of the living: “life in the hearts”.
Table of ContentsAsa Kasher: Introduction Section 1: Dying Mary Josephine Mahoney: Hospice and the Intangible Wonders of Being Jeremy Weinstein: ‘So That’s a Completely Different Story’: Competing Narratives in the Lives of Relatives Caring for Dying Patients Chris J. Onof: Death and the Sense of Self Karl Traugott Goldbach: Political Murder on the German Opera Stage: Masagniello Furioso, Günther von Schwarzburg and Rienzi Section 2: Euthanasia Nele De Bal, Bernadette Dierckx, de Casterlé and Chris Gastmans: Nurse Involvement in the Care for Patients Requesting Euthanasia Susan Dawson and Bill Campbell: Are We Barking Up the Wrong Tree? Questioning the Appropriateness of the Human Models for Understanding Bereavement as Applied to the Experience of Companion Animal Loss through Euthanasia Section 3: Mourning Werner Nell: The Saying Hallo Metaphor as Alternative Approach to Death-Related Counselling Una MacConville and Regina McQuillan: Remembering the Dead: Roadside Memorials in Ireland Emily Boone Hagenmaier: “Untitled” (Queer Mourning and the Art of Felix Gonzalez-Torres) Notes on Contributors
