From growth to silence: expressive endeavours at the end of life

Abstract

This ethnographic study explores how severely ill and dying per- sons participating in expressive forms of culture, such as art, blog- ging and talking, confront dying and death. Influenced by the increasing relevance of values such as expressivity and creativity and the mediatisation of everyday life, more and more people facing death in globalised Western culture seek their own expres- sive ways to deal with finitude in online and offline contexts. Framed by Tony Walter’s sociology of death, which captures key features of death attitudes within Western societies, this study identifies commonalities in the different expressive endeavours at the end of life. The data for the analysis stem from encounters with 12 persons receiving palliative care in Switzerland. The study found that the performances of individualistic expressivity are informed by the idea of personal growth, prosumer and sharing culture, a quest for belonging and the wish for silence. The findings aim to contribute to further the understanding of current forms of mediated dying in networked society.