Culture and the Social Reality of Death: The Afghan Experience

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Pentaris, Panagiotis. 2015. Culture and the Social Reality of Death: The Afghan Experience. In: Katarzyna Malecka and Rossanna Gibbs, eds. And Death shall have Dominion: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Dying, Caregivers, Death, Mourning and the Bereaved. Freeland, Oxfordshire: Inter-Diciplinary Press, pp. 1-9. ISBN 9781848884182 [Book Section]

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Official URL: https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/978184888418...

Abstract or Description

Death has been studied comprehensively only since the 1950s. Regardless the great few theorists who elaborated on death related subjects due to World War experiences, the science of death only thrived as such with Feifel's brilliant work The Meaning of Death in 1959. Death and dying have mainly been examined as counterparts of life, and not as parts of the life course. This chapter aims to examine the relationship between the social construction of the meaning of death in a constantly changing globalized society and the cultural point of reference that guides attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and interpretations towards death and dying. Cultural identities, as well as religious and ethnic ones, guide perceptions on one's own experiences. Alongside the attempt to highlight the importance of culture in the meaning we make of death and dying, an example from an Afghani case study is used. The latter enhances the understanding of cultural dimensions of death as to be linked with social policies and health care practice with dying and bereaved people. Suggestions for professional practice implications are made, therefore.

Item Type:

Book Section

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1163/9781848884182_002