“The Solitary Mortuary”:The Meanings of Remains in the Context the Medicalization of Death

  • Tian-shu PAN ,
  • Shen-qi TANG
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Accepted date: 2023-06-23

  Online published: 2023-08-01

Abstract

In modern society, the scope of the flow of remains is continually exceeding the boundaries of family organizations and being taken over by larger and impersonal social organizations. Under the trend of the medicalization of death, the hospital has become the focal point of death and dying. As a spatial device of medical knowledge and a constituent of the hospital system, the mortuary has become a place for taking charge of patients’ remains. In the mortuary, there are two concepts of remains: one pertains to the Western medical system’s knowledge and cultural tradition that objectifies and dissects dead bodies, the other is the emotional, ethical, and mutually permeable concept of remains within the context of Chinese social thought. Despite the tension between them, anthropological research finds that these two concepts can be reconciled in commercial activities in the mortuary.

Cite this article

Tian-shu PAN , Shen-qi TANG . “The Solitary Mortuary”:The Meanings of Remains in the Context the Medicalization of Death[J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2023 , 55(4) : 96 -110 . DOI: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2023.04.009

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