Birth and Death in British Culture: Liminality, Power, and Performance
Anette Pankratz · Claus-Ulrich Viol · Ariane de Waal
Apr 2012 · Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Ebook
250
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
Why discuss birth and death when they lie outside discourse? And why look at them together when they are so much unlike each other, one the moment of fresh beginnings, joys, and the relative certainties of existence, the other the moment of life’s end, grief, and the relative uncertainties of non-existence? Because it turns out that both events, while virtually unrepresentable, have spawned a host of representations, narratives, rites, and attempts at making sense of them; and because they may have more similarities than appears at first sight. The 13 interdisciplinary articles collected in this volume prove that looking at the two phenomena in tandem throws into sharp relief the distinct patterns and functions of each, while also highlighting some of the fundamental historical developments, cultural functions, and socio-political issues shared by both. The contributions take stock of the discourses of birth and death prevalent in British (and Western) culture, probing into the way the two phenomena have been subjected to strategies of medialisation, commodification, and bio-politics.
About the author
Anette Pankratz is Professor of British Cultural Studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Her research interests include representations of death and dying in contemporary British drama.
Claus-Ulrich Viol is Lecturer of British Cultural Studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. His research interests include the bio-politics of pregnancy and birth, the James Bond phenomenon, and popular music.
Ariane de Waal is Research Assistant at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Her research interests include cultural constructions of childbirth, urban spaces, and representations of the ‘war on terror’.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
