‘How dead dead the dead are’: sensing the science of death

Abstract

This article focuses on two revelatory moments I experienced during hospital-based fieldwork. The first, involving a microscope, offered me a glimpse into the sensory intellectuality that attracts some doctors to the specialty of anatomical pathology. The second occurred as I gazed into an emptied human skull. This experience generated a gestalt-shift of insight into the capacity of pathologists to work with human remains. Both events opened a doorway to the sequestered science of death – the macroscopy and microscopy upon which anatomical pathology is built – and the enervating emotions that support the doctors who ‘mutilate’ the dead during autopsy.

Uncovering Hidden Emotional Work: Professional Practice in Paediatric Post-Mortem

“…While qualitative research on post-mortem has increased, existing studies tend to focus on the profession of pathology and on certain sub-specialisms within it, for example anatomical (Horsley, 2012), or forensic pathology (Gassaway, 2007). Particular attention is often lavished on forensic pathology, and on the scientific rather than emotional aspects of post-mortem (Brysiewicz, 2007; Timmermans, 2006).…”

Movement, Materiality, and the Mortuary: Adopting Go-Along Ethnography in Research on Fetal and Neonatal Postmortem

“…The mortuary is often viewed as a place of mystery and is associated with sadness, grief, or repulsion (Brysiewicz 2007). While the number of qualitative studies on postmortem and the mortuary has increased (Horsley 2008(Horsley , 2012, few of these focus on the UK context (Woodthorpe and Komaromy 2013). Such studies also tend to focus their analysis on particular professions, most notably pathology and the different sub-specialisms within it, for example, anatomical (Horsley 2012), or forensic pathology (Timmermans 2006).…”

“…While the number of qualitative studies on postmortem and the mortuary has increased (Horsley 2008(Horsley , 2012, few of these focus on the UK context (Woodthorpe and Komaromy 2013). Such studies also tend to focus their analysis on particular professions, most notably pathology and the different sub-specialisms within it, for example, anatomical (Horsley 2012), or forensic pathology (Timmermans 2006). However, other professional groups who occupy a central role within postmortem work such as mortuary technicians (APTs) have until recently been neglected (Woodthorpe and Komaromy 2013).…”

“…The process of memory-making has long been a central focus of studies on babyloss and death and dying more generally (Garattini 2007;Hallam and Hockey 2001;Layne 2000;Miller 2010). While ethnographies of the mortuary have often explored the emotional labor involved in autopsy work (Horsley 2008(Horsley , 2012, less is known about the relationship between postmortem, the mortuary, and the broader process of memorialization. As will be explored in this section, by taking a go-along approach and following professionals beyond postmortem (both in the hospital and outside), we were able to highlight the importance of situating postmortem practice in the wider landscape of grief and memorialization.…”

“…Social research in the area of death and dying has emphasized the important intersection of material culture and place, particularly around bereavement and memorialization (Hockey, Komaromy, and Woodthorpe 2010;Maddrell 2016). Ethnographies based on the mortuary have tended to be acutely sensitive to location and to the sensory and material nature of the mortuary (Horsley 2008(Horsley , 2012. However, such studies have yet to fully investigate the different types of mobility that are often inherent within postmortem practice (such as movement of hospital staff, dead bodies, paperwork, etc.).…”