Trying to keep you: how grief, abjection, and ritual transform the social meanings of a human body
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-3-2017
Abstract
The present research illuminates how the grief process and the abject force us to confront and reconcile the strangeness of a loved one’s lifeless human body. We find that the grief process, initially fueled by abjection, moves the social meanings of a human body in death through three stages: (1) divorcing the deceased’s identity from the body, (2) seeking tangible substitutes, and (3) attaining meaning outside the physical realm. These findings reveal how the process of grief, the abject, and the ritual practices surrounding it, transform the social meanings of a human body and other related symbolic consumption items. This work contributes to the literature by illuminating our understanding of the fluidity of identity that extends beyond a person’s natural life and by revealing how renegotiating the relationship with a physical body is important for the self-preservation of the living.
Publication Title
Consumption Markets and Culture
Volume
20
Issue
5
First Page
403
Last Page
422
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1080/10253866.2017.1367678
ISSN
10253866
E-ISSN
1477223X
Citation Information
Nations, Baker, S. M., & Krszjzaniek, E. (2017). Trying to keep you: how grief, abjection, and ritual transform the social meanings of a human body. Consumption, Markets and Culture, 20(5), 403–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2017.1367678