ON MOURNING: THEORIES OF LOSS IN MODERN LITERATURE

"On Mourning confronts the issue of loss and its commemoration in contemporary writing. Bringing together work from literary studies, anthropology, psychoanalysis, cultural theory and contemporary philosophy, William Watkin offers an overview of the process of mourning in our culture that is both wide-reaching and challenging. He provides illuminating readings of contemporary writing practices, showing how our 'mourning culture' is manifested in traditional elegies, contemporary novels, personal narratives, emotional speech and political rhetoric. In particular, Watkin considers the central issues of emotional authenticity, the relationship between commemorative art and the dead body, the psychological impact of loss and our communal responses to the 'otherness' of death."--Jacket.