Research Catalog

Title

Life sentences : the modern ordering of mortality / Zohreh Bayatrizi.

Author

Bayatrizi, Zohreh, 1973-

Publication

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2008], ©2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiii, 193 pages : illustrations, map; 24 cm

Summary

"Since the beginning of time death has been regarded as a symbolically meaningful yet unfathomable event. In Life Sentences Zohreh Bayatrizi looks at the many concerted attempts dating back to the mid-seventeenth century to strip death of its mystery, and to order, manage, and transform it from an individualized and fatalistic event to a social phenomenon that allows intervention. Examining a wide range of archival, statistical, and discursive materials, she discusses the process of understanding that has evolved in terms of four quasi-biblical commandments: thou shalt not die violently; thou shalt not die prematurely; thou shalt not kill thyself; and thou shalt not die an undignified death."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Death > History. > Western countries
• Death > History
• Life and death, Power over > History
• Mort > Histoire. > Occident
• Mort > Histoire
• Pouvoir sur la vie et la mort > Histoire

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [171]-187) and index.

Contents

Introduction. The Modern Ordering of Mortality -- 1. Thou Shalt Not Die Violently: Death and the Modern Problematic of Order -- 2. Thou Shalt Not Die Prematurely: The Political Economy of Death -- 3. Thou Shalt Not Kill Thyself: The De-moralization of Suicide -- 4. Thou Shalt Not Die an Undignified Death: The Discursive Constitution of Death with Dignity -- Conclusion. Thou Shalt Die an Orderly Death.

ISBN

• 9780802097552
• 0802097553

LCCN

40015952167

OCLC

• 227928745
• ocn227928745
• SCSB-5435634

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries