“I am arguing that in the last several hundred years, more importantly in the last fifty years, and even more importantly in the last twenty years, conditions have emerged with sufficient strength to produce in the modern world a new kind of dying – prolonged dying- which relatively large numbers of persons have confronted, are now confronting, or will confront. Between admission to the category dying and extinction, more and more persons are confronting -and doing so consciously- not minutes, or hours or days but weeks or months or even years. As we shall see, this prolongation of the dying-to-death trajectory is a source of problems. It is also a source of potentials. ”
— Lofland, 2019 [1978] Page: 20.
This quote might read as the intro to the popular book Being Mortal by Atul Gawande published in 2014. In this book Gawande talks about how the trajectory of ageing and dying is significantly prolonged compared to earlier times. Death is no longer a single point in time, but a hilly decline that can take months or even years. But the quote above is not taken from that book. Instead it is taken from the 1978 book The Craft of Dying: the modern face of death written by sociologist Lyn H. Lofland.
The Craft of Dying might have been written in the 1970s, but all the arguments feel remarkably relevant and applicable to present day. In this 40th anniversary edition, published in 2019, both John Troyer in the introduction as well as Ara A. Francis- one of Lofland’s last graduate students- in the epilogue comment on the ‘freshness’ of her work.
Lofland’s monograph consists of three parts: 1) The Situation of Modern Dying: Problems and Potential, in which she talks about the changing nature of dying in ‘modern’ times. Part 2; Individual constructions: Styling and Controlling the Dying Role focuses on individual responses to dying and part 3; ‘Collective Constructions: The Happy Death Movement’, looks at group responses to dying. In other words, her book shows how people, both individually and collectively, try to make sense of dying, and how societal changes alter beliefs and habits around death and dying on both of those levels.
“It seems quite probable that at least some portion of the many differences among humans and their dealing and coping with death has to do with which death or combinations of deaths they routinely confront. The culture and the organization of death – the complex of thinkings, believing, feelings, and doings relative to it- in any given group at any given time, then, is not so much a culture and organization of universal death (although it may contain elements of such). It is, rather, a culture and organization of characteristic of death or deaths. If the latter changes, old ways of acting and feeling may seem unsatisfactory or irrelevant or inappropriate or incomplete. And while the old ways may persists despite their perceived inadequacies , it seems likely that eventually humans will construct for themselves a new, or at least altered , death culture and organization – a new “craft of dying”- better able to contain the new experience.”
(Lofland, 2019 [1978] page:2).
One of Lofland’s main arguments; that modern dying takes longer compared to dying in earlier times, seems quite obvious nowadays. It is this longevity of the dying process that prompts a ‘new craft’ of dying. It is important to note, repeatedly, that she made this argument over 40 years ago. Yet despite this, there are people who make this argument as if it is a recent revelation (I include myself in this, as I have definitely argued this in my doctoral thesis). It is sad to see that such a rich and original source is not as often cited as it should. And I surely wish I had read this book at the start of my doctoral studies.
Lofland is critical of what she terms the ‘Happy Death Movement’, a group of people who both individually and collectively try to change the face of death.
“As a component of the ideology of the movement, positivity involves three interrelated assertions: 1) that the dying process may be the occasion for self-improvement and personality “growth” for the dying person; 2) that the dying process and subsequent grieving may be the occasion for self-improvement and personality “growth” for the family and friends of the dying/dead person; and 3) that death itself (the moment of death and what follows) may be blissful, serene, pleasurable, intensely contenting- perhaps even orgastic. ”
— Lofland page: 77.
Lofland argues the Happy Death Movement needed a cause, something to fight for and against. One of their causes is the idea that ‘death is taboo’ and people do not wish to talk about it. Yet, Lofland asserts, there is little empirical proof that death is indeed taboo, nor that people do not wish to talk about it. However, by continuously announcing that “death is taboo”, and “no one wishes to talk about it”, they create their own legitimacy, and therefore the need for more ‘death positivity’. In this I recognise the discourse used by the UK based charity ‘Dying Matters’ – which annually organises ‘Dying Matters week’ which is focused on getting people to talk about death. This organisation spends a lot of time talking about how people refrain from talking about death, yet the plethora of events and talks hosted during this week clearly shows how many people are very ready to talk about death. But I don’t want to just single out Dying Matters, as it is a trope found in many ‘death positive’ organisations. Like Lofland, I wish to see people move beyond the notion that death is taboo. Furthermore, the idea that ‘people need to talk about it’ often is assumend self-evident, yet this might not be the case for everyone.
Lofland’s writing style is very accessible, and the book will have much to offer to a wide readership. I was spoilt for choice when selecting quotes for this review (I am aware that this blog is basically a string of her quotes, as they were all so good!) , as Lofland’s book is brimming with little gems of wisdom. It is a text I will definitely return to in the future, and I hope this 40th anniversary reprint will give Lofland the readership (and citations!) she deserves!
For more information about the Craft of Dying visit the MIT Press website. Click here if you wish to buy the book.
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