| Birth and Death in British Culture: Liminality, Power, and Performance Contributor(s): Pankratz, Anette (Editor), Viol, Claus-Ulrich (Editor) |
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ISBN: 1443838888 ISBN-13: 9781443838887 Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing OUR PRICE: $67.27 Product Type: Hardcover Published: June 2012 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Great Britain - General - Performing Arts | Film - History & Criticism - Social Science | Popular Culture |
| Dewey: 941.082 |
| LCCN: 2012452903 |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 5.7" W x 8.2" (1.05 lbs) 250 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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. |