The Age of Spectacular Death by Michael Hviid Jacobsen - 9780367368265

Taylor & Francis

This book explores death in contemporary society \u2013 or more precisely, in the \u2018spectacular age\u2019 \u2013 by moving beyond classic studies of death that emphasised the importance of the death taboo and death denial to examine how we now \u2018do\u2019 death. Unfolding the notion of \u2018spectacular death\u2019 as characteristic of our modern approach to death and dying, it considers the new mediation or mediatisation of death and dying; the commercialisation of death as a \u2018marketable commodity\u2019 used to sell products, advance artistic expression or provoke curiosity; the re-ritualisation of death and the growth of new ways of finding meaning through commemorating the dead; the revolution of palliative care; and the specialisation surrounding death, particularly in relation to scholarship. Presenting a range of case studies that shed light on this new understanding of death in contemporary culture, The Age of Spectacular Death will appeal to scholars of sociology,.