Objects of the Dead Mourning and Memory in Everyday Life

What is the fate of objects after a death? And why do some things stay and some go from our lives and memories? Objects of the Dead is about a universal and often poignant experience - the death of a loved one and the process of sorting through, living with, and discarding, the objects that are left behind. It looks at the status of objects as property, metaphors, symbols of love and identity, and the power of things to bind and unbind family relationships. This book is a remarkable reflection on grieving - of both saying goodbye and living with death.

Margaret Gibson is a professor of sociology at Griffith University who has written widely in the areas of mourning and grief, identity and embodiment, and representations of death. Her articles and papers have appeared in the journals Australian Feminist Studies, Health Sociology Review, Mortality, and Social Semiotics as well as in the books Popular Spiritualities: The Politics of Contemporary Enchantment and Roadside Memorials: A Multi-disciplinary Approach.