Alternative approaches to conceptualizing grief: A conversation
Keywords:
Grief theory, grief as metaphor, metaphors of grief, grief as feelings/thoughts, grief ambiguity and complexityAbstract
AbstractAs an exploration of alternative approaches to thinking about grief, this paper raises fundamental questions about the nature of grief. Is grief one thing or many? Can we theorize about grief in ways that better take into account its complex tangle of feelings and thoughts, its ambiguity, its differences across people, its changes over time, and the diverse ways in which different people talk about their bereavement? Can we capture the sensitivity of the qualitative researcher and the clinician in conceptualizing the grieving of a particular individual and the diversity of grieving across individuals? In the dialogue, ‘grief’ is discussed as an ‘ontological metaphor’ as opposed to a real reality. Questions are raised about how to theorize about the grief of people who use particular metaphors in talking about their grieving, and two examples are explored, the metaphor of the hole and the metaphor of the journey.
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