Grief Goods: Material Possessions and Meaning Reconstruction in Bereavement

The publishing industry has witnessed a burgeoning in “pathographies” or personal accounts of dying or bereavement. One particularly powerful account is Joan Didion’s best-selling book, The Year of Magical Thinking, which offers a detailed forensic introspection of her emotional and cognitive journey through the first year of widowhood. The title’s reference to “magical thinking” captures how bereaved people attempt to function in a distressing, disorienting microclimate and struggle to create a meaningful narrative of death and loss. In such circumstances, normal cognitive and emotional functioning becomes arduous and tentative if not almost impossible. Through a close reading of Didion’s narrative, we explore the symbiotic relationship between goods and grieving and how material possessions are marshalled in the service of meaning reconstruction (Neimeyer, 2001).



Citation:

Darach Turley and Stephanie O'Donohoe (2011) ,"Grief Goods: Material Possessions and Meaning Reconstruction in Bereavement", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Alan Bradshaw, Chris Hackley, and Pauline Maclaran, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 459.

Authors

Darach Turley, Dublin City University, Dublin 9,Ireland
Stephanie O'Donohoe, Un. of Edinburgh, Scotalnd



Volume

E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9 | 2011



Share Proceeding

Featured papers

See More

Featured

Immigration, Abortion, and Gay Marriage – Oh My!

TJ Weber, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Chris Hydock, Georgetown University, USA
Jeff Joireman, Washington State University, USA
David Sprott, Washington State University, USA

Read More

Featured

M5. The More Expensive a Gift Is, the More It Is Appreciated? The Effect of Gift Price on Recipients’ Appreciation

Jooyoung Park, Peking University
MENGSHU CHEN, Tencent Holdings Limited

Read More

Featured

B4. Prestige is the Truth: Luxury Branding Drives for Fairness Perception of Non-physical Attribute Based Dynamic Pricing

Edward Yuhang Lai, Virginia Tech, USA
Cindy Yoonjoung Heo, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne

Read More

Engage with Us

Becoming an Association for Consumer Research member is simple. Membership in ACR is relatively inexpensive, but brings significant benefits to its members.